


A Different Kind of Truth

by TheInfamousMan



Category: Persona 4, Persona Series, ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 | JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Genre: Angst, Coming of Age, Crossover, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-14
Updated: 2017-02-24
Packaged: 2018-09-17 09:19:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 63,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9315173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheInfamousMan/pseuds/TheInfamousMan
Summary: Johnny Joestar was a young man who had it all. A rich family, fame, respect.. everything. But an action done out of pride cost him all that, including his legs. He left for Inaba to escape from his memories, but Johnny is now dragged into to a bizarre murder case. A mystery which may teach the former genius jockey that bonds can make the most broken bird fly again...





	1. Tusk Act 1

A stretch limousine drove down a foggy road, its headlights shining through the thick fog that covered the path. Almost everything inside the limousine was in the color of blue velvet. The seats, the ceiling, the carpet… everything was that color. When one was looking from the back of the interior to the front, they could see a small liquor bar to the left with wine, glasses, and tumblers. In the middle of the rack was a TV screen, like most high-class limos had nowadays. White light came from overhead, somehow giving the place an even more relaxing 'feel'. Though there were no speakers in sight, a woman's soft, haunting voice sung along with pianos and violins. It was enough to soothe any angry soul.

Two people occupied the front of the limo, sitting in their seats. One was an old man, yet it was questionable if he was really human. He was just skin and bones, and dressed in a black and white suit with white silk gloves. He was bald, except for the whisky white hairs on the sides and back of his head. His ears were pointed and long, and his nose was even longer than those ears. The man was hunched over a table with his eyes closed, as if contemplating something.

A young pale woman with white hair was to the man's left, dressed in a blue jacket with a matching skirt and black stockings. On her lap was a thick handbook, which her hands were resting on. Both of them looked up and stared at someone in the back of the limousine. The man's eyes were enormous and bloodshot, while the woman's irises were an almost enchanting gold.

"Welcome… to the Velvet Room." The man spoke in a smooth, gentlemanly voice to the hidden person.

"W-who the hell are you? Where am I?"

"Please, do not be alarmed. You were brought here because you have an unusual destiny lying ahead of you." The man spoke without even registering the person's rude tone. "I believe some introductions are in order. My name is Igor, and I'm delighted to make your acquaintance."

"And you may call me Margaret. It is a pleasure to meet you." The woman introduced herself to the person

"Just tell me where I am!"

While Margaret gave the person speaking a cold stare in response to his behavior, Igor just smirked, as if the person's alarmed state actually amused him. "This is a realm that is between dream and reality, between mind and matter. It is a room that only those that are bound by a 'contract' may enter. At least, that it is how it should normally be."

"What are you talking about? I never signed any contract, especially not with a weirdo like you!"

"You have not fully adjusted to this place, so it may take some time for you to comprehend." Igor then waved his hand, and a small stack of cards appeared on the table. The person in the back of the car noted the strange design of the cards – they had a drama-like black and white mask with vines in the background and harps in the corners of it. "Do you believe in fortune-telling?" Igor asked rhetorically before flicking his hand, causing the cards to shuffle themselves. The cards then spread out and took seven places on the table. "Each reading is done with the same cards, but the result is always different. Very much like life itself, no? Now then, let's take a look at your destiny…"

Before the person could voice his objections, Igor made the motion of flipping a card in the air, and the card to the lower right turned over. It had the picture of a tower being struck by lightning, with shaded human figures falling down from it. The Roman numerals on the bottom were XVI. Igor then repeated the motion, and the lower left card then flipped to show a crescent moon with a face outlined in the shaded side, and a lobster silhouette in between two L shaped blocks above the moon. It was numbered XVIII.

"Hm… The Tower in the downward position foretells a great catastrophe in the near future, and The Moon in the upright position tells of a mystery… very interesting…" Igor muttered to himself in a polite yet amused tone.

"What? Talk sense already!"

"It seems you will encounter a grave misfortune at your destination, and a great mystery shall be imposed upon you." Igor explained further. His eyes then fully opened, and his smirk seemed to grow even larger. "You are so very different from our previous guests. Your bloodline is one forever entrenched in destiny, and perhaps this catastrophe will be another chapter in a saga that transcends time itself!"

"What the hell are you…?"

"I understand you have many questions, but for now it is time for you to depart." Igor spoke, and to the person the room seemed to be moving farther and farther away.

"Wait! What are you trying to tell me!?"

"You journey will definitely be a most interesting one." Margaret spoke as they observed the person disappeared from her view. "Until we meet again…"

"Jonathan 'Johnny' Joestar."

* * *

**xxXXxx**

A young man woke up suddenly, his face resting on his right hand as he sat in his train seat. The noise of the tracks could be heard from outside, and the blackness of the tunnel was still apparent. The teen was slim and medium in height, about five feet and five inches tall. His hair was shoulder-length and blonde, and seemed to curl outwards at the tips. His eyes were a deep dark blue, and his face held delicate features that could make women swoon easily. He wore a simple sleeveless white shirt with red and blue stripes going across the abdomen along with a pair of denim jeans that had a stetted-on star symbol at the knees. His shoes were a pair of light blue sneakers with white soles; but the most distinctive feature of the young man was that he wore a reversed cap that had a silver horseshoe symbol on top of the opening, and three white stars running along the adjustment strap.

This was Jonathan 'Johnny' Joestar. While Jonathan was his birth name, he got tired of the nickname 'JoJo' and just referred to himself as Johnny. Eventually that stuck, and hardly anyone but his family knew his real name.

Johnny lifted his head from his hand and placed it on his face. _"What the hell was that...? I feel like I had a really bizarre dream, but what was it about...?"_

Light then suddenly flooded Johnny's eyes and caused him to blink for a second before he decided to look out of the window. It was practically all green. Trees littered the landscape, and there were several mountains in the distance. As the train sped forward, Johnny could see the town he would be staying at for the next year.

Yasoinaba.

 _"We are now approaching Yasoinaba."_ The speaker announced in Japanese, but Johnny could understand it perfectly. After all, his mother had grilled the lessons of her native language into his brain. She had said it was important to understand his 'family's culture'.

Johnny was a very particular individual. He was the son of a wealthy American tycoon, George Joestar, and a foreign woman he had fallen in love with, Orihime Joestar-Dojima. He had an older brother whose name was Nicholas Joestar, and unlike Johnny, he had inherited their mother's wavy black hair. They lived in a ranch way out in Danville, Kentucky, and over there Johnny had always ridden horses for fun, with Nicholas often joining in. But Johnny was so good that his father had called him 'a horse-riding genius'. After that Johnny got himself into competition after competition, only returning home for dinner. At the age of fourteen he had won over twenty awards, all from different championships.

But despite his often busy schedule, when Johnny would have preferred to fool around with whatever girlfriend he had for the week or his fellow high-class friends, his mother had sat his ass down and taught him Japanese. How to speak, how to write, how to read… all of it was ingrained into his mind. Johnny had never understood why. Other than his mother, he had no foreign friends or acquaintances. While he never thought ill of foreigners, he never actively hung out with them or talked to them unless it was necessary either. All his friends were from America, and as such he never thought he would be able to put the language into actual practice or use.

But things had changed. Nicholas was dead, their father hated the very sight of his youngest son, his mother could not look at him without pity in her eyes, and…

 _"Thank you for riding with us. We will be arriving in Yasoinaba station in a couple of moments."_ The speakers blared to life again, making Johnny sigh as he looked to his right and inched towards the wheelchair strapped to the seats by the entrance. Reaching out and grabbing the armrests with his hands, Johnny lifted himself from the train seat and onto the wheelchair, being sure to place his useless legs on the rests.

This was without a doubt the most glaring change. The former jockey prodigy Johnny Joestar was now a cripple. Irony was a cruel mistress.

Johnny could not move anything below his waist. He hadn't been able to move his legs by even an inch for two years, and by now he could hardly even remember what walking was like anymore. Since then, he had been forced to get used to going around in a wheelchair, and what he could and couldn't do without the use of his legs.

Johnny pushed the wheels on his side to the seat across. Making sure that the breaks were secured, Johnny took his bag and turned around to place it on a small basket behind the wheelchair. The train then suddenly stopped, signaling that…

_"You have now arrived at Yasoinaba. Please collect all your belongings…"_

"Well, here goes nothing." Johnny sighed to himself as he unlocked the breaks and moved the wheelchair towards the exit. Pressing a button, a small ramp came out of the floor and connected to the station. Johnny rolled out and began to look around.

The station was… small. In fact, it looked abandoned. Nobody was around, and he was greeted with nothing but the sound of distant cars and insects.

"Geez, it's so empty…" Johnny muttered to himself as he rolled outside to the parking area. "Even for a place in the country. Back home, main street would be a lot busier…"

"Hey! There you are!"

Johnny turned his head to the left to see a tall, slouched, middle-aged man, with dark black hair that was starting to go grey, equally grey eyes, and with a rough stubble on his chin. He wore a grey button up shirt with a loose red tie and dark grey slacks. To his side was a little girl with dark brown hair done in a pair of short pigtails, wearing a knee-length pink and white dress.

"Man, you look a lot more handsome in person than you did in the photo your mom sent." The man spoke with a small smile. "You sure look different now than you did back then. I only remember what you looked like when you were still in diapers."

"Uh… yeah." Johnny said flatly, not entirely sure how to respond to that. He tried and failed to remember the name of the man in front of him. "Who are you?"

"Ah, I'm not surprised that you don't remember. Like I said, it's been a long time." The man said with an embarrassed laugh. "My name is Ryotaro Dojima. I'm your mother's little brother."

"Oh. Right." Johnny said plainly with a raised eyebrow. "Coulda said that to begin with. Make things a little less awkward."

"Er, right. I guess I should've sent your mom a picture for reference." Dojima muttered half to Johnny, half to himself.

Based on his expression, Johnny assumed he was trying to figure out what to say next before he looked down and noticed the child hiding behind his leg. He smiled and gently pulled the girl so Johnny could see her. She was a pretty cute kid. Short brown hair tied up in pigtails and wearing a pink dress. The girl glanced up a Johnny for a moment before quickly turning her eyes downward to her feet.

"This here's Nanako, my daughter." Dojima smiled, gesturing to her. He leaned down slightly and spoke encouragingly to the girl. "Nanako, this is your cousin, Jonathan. He came all the way here from America, so why don't you say hello?"

"…'lo."

Johnny barely heard her because she spoke so quietly. The teen frowned, thinking of the problems they'd have communicating if she was always going to be this quiet.

"Um… why are you in that weird chair?"

Johnny's eyes widened at the sudden question, shocked for a moment before his fists tightened on the armrests of his wheelchair as frustration built within him. Dojima was quick to try and remedy the situation, kneeling down and making Nanako face him so he could explain.

"Nanako, your cousin got into… an accident a while ago. Because of that, he-"

"So because of that I can't walk anymore. That's why I'm sitting in this 'weird chair'." Johnny finished for Dojima curtly before pushing himself past the two. "Anyways, where's the car?"

"…To the sidewalk on the left. It's the grey one. You can't miss it." Dojima answered as Johnny continued to wheel himself forward, not bothering to wait for them.

"…Did I say something bad?" Nanako asked in a hurt voice while Dojima just sighed.

"Kinda… you can apologize to him in the car. Just… don't try to remind him of his accident or point out the chair. He went through a lot and it would be insensitive of us to focus on that, okay?"

"Okay…" Nanako gave a hesitant nod.

Dojima and Nanako quickly followed after Johnny, the adult mentally berating himself for not telling Nanako about her cousin's disability beforehand. He'd been doing paperwork at the station late last night and had almost forgotten his nephew was arriving today. Ignoring Johnny's attitude, Dojima could see that they hadn't exactly gotten off on the right foot.

The detective sighed to himself. It was going to be a long year…

* * *

**xxXXxx**

Johnny hadn't needed any help moving from his wheelchair to the car. Apparently, he was used to moving himself from his wheelchair to another seat. All Dojima had to do was fit Johnny's wheelchair and bag in the trunk. Johnny sat in the back as it was easier to get out of the car from there, while Nanako sat in front. The car ride was mostly in an awkward silence, due to the exchange from before.

"Um…" Nanako spoke up, causing Johnny to look at her. "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings…"

Normally, Johnny would have reacted coldly and said nothing. That was how it usually went with people who gave him the expected apologies and showed pity. But Nanako was a kid, and even in his foul mood Johnny didn't have the heart to take a snipe at her. Besides, he was going to live with her for a year, so he decided he might as well get along with the kid. Or at least make it so he wouldn't say anything that might make her cry.

"It's fine. Just… don't do it again." Johnny sighed.

Nanako gave him a small smile and nodded, happy since she was able to fix the problem between her and her cousin. With the silence broken, Dojima decided now was as good of a time as any to speak up. "Sorry it's so quiet out here compared to your home. It must suck that you have to move here because of your father…"

"Tch." Johnny clicked his tongue in distaste at the very mention of his father and looked out the window. There were several posters of a young girl with long red hair in a swimsuit promoting the latest diet drink. Apparently, she was the newest idol sensation sweeping Japan. Once again, silence filled the car and only the radio let out noise. It was something about some councilman having an affair with a television reporter. Mayumi something or another…

"Anyways… I'm glad that you're here Jonathan." Dojima spoke as they stopped at a red light. He turned his head and gave Johnny a smile. "Might take a little while to get used to the place, but we'll be around to help if you need it."

"It's Johnny."

"Huh?" Dojima asked in confusion while Johnny shot him a small glare.

"Look, I don't go by Jonathan. Call me Johnny. That's it." Johnny elaborated, glaring at Dojima. "And while I really appreciate the offer, I won't be needing much help from you. So don't expect me to ask for it."

Silence prevailed once again as Johnny and Dojima stared at each other. Dojima's eyes narrowed slightly. Seriously, even given his condition, this kid's attitude was…

"Dad, the light's green…"

"Oh, right. Thanks, Nanako." Dojima said, turning his eyes back to the front and shaking his head with a sigh. More quietly, he muttered to himself, "Orihime-nee… just what the hell did you saddle me with?"

Dojima's eyes glanced down at the gas meter and his eyebrows went up. He glanced back at Johnny and gave him a sheepish look.

"Hey, mind if we make a quick stop somewhere?"

* * *

**xxXXxx**

The gas station hadn't been too far away. Dojima pulled into the MOEL Gas and parked next to the closest pump. Their stopping had actually worked out well since Nanako had confessed a need to use the bathroom, and was worried that she couldn't make it by the time they got home. A cheery gas station attendant greeted Dojima and Nanako as they stepped out, directing Nanako to where the bathrooms were while Dojima told the man to fill up the tank while he went to have a quick smoke. That left Johnny alone to twiddle his thumbs while he waited for his uncle and cousin to return. At least they left the windows open.

"So, are you a foreign exchange student or something?"

Johnny gave the gas attendant an annoyed look. The man gave an apologetic smile as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Sorry. You just looked like a foreigner and we don't get many of those around here so I was curious. Are you?"

Having nothing better to do, Johnny decided to humor the guy. "Somethin' like that. Came from America."

"Really now? Bet it was way more lively there than all the way out here, huh?" The attendant chuckled, gesturing to the main street of Inaba. Johnny looked to see that barely anyone was around, although he spotted several stores. He saw a bookstore, a tofu place, a Chinese restaurant, a textile shop, and surprisingly, a church a few buildings from a shrine. But other than that, there were a LOT of closed down shops. Honestly, it looked pretty empty. Quiet.

"…It's not that different, actually." Johnny muttered, glancing down disdainfully.

"Ah, well, take it from me, you'll be bored to tears if you don't find something to do." The attendant said. He snapped his fingers as if he just remembered something. "Speaking of which, we're actually looking for part-timers right now. Interested? Could get yourself some extra cash."

"Thanks, but I probably don't meet the criteria most jobs set." Johnny said bitterly.

That, and he already had more than a little extra cash. His dad might be a bastard, but at least he hadn't cut off his own son from the family funds. He had enough loose change to spend in order to find ways to entertain himself and then some throughout the year. At least he hoped he could find something to do.

"Well, just keep it in the back of your head. You ever change your mind, the offer still stands." The attendant smiled and held out his right hand. "Sound good?"

"…Sure." Johnny replied as he shook the offered hand. Guy probably thought he was being clever and considerate by shaking instead of bowing.

The man finished filling the tank and departed just as Dojima and Nanako returned.

"Hey, sorry for the wait, Jonathan." Dojima apologized as he and Nanako got in. "You-"

"Johnny." Johnny repeated his request from earlier, stressing the name. "My name is Johnny. Use it."

"Right, right… sorry." Dojima sighed tiredly. "You ready to go?"

"Ready for anything." Johnny snarked as he rubbed his forehead. Man, his head was killing him…

"Hey, are you okay?" Nanako asked worriedly to her cousin. "Did you get car sick?"

"Nah. Just annoyed." Johnny replied, the throbbing behind his eyes making his reply sharper than intended. His demeanor softened when he saw Nanako's hurt expression. "Sorry, just… let's just go already."

"You're probably a little exhausted from the trip." Dojima stated. "Come on. We'll get home quick so you can lie down."

* * *

**xxXXxx**

It turned out that the Dojima residence was only a few minutes away. The town was pretty small, now that Johnny thought about it. Everything was probably only a few minutes away. Johnny placed himself back on the wheelchair from the car seat and entered the house as Dojima held the door open for him and Nanako. The boy took a quick glance around the place he'd be staying at for the next year. It was small, had a kitchen, living room, a bathroom, and three bedrooms considering Dojima had stated that all of his stuff was already in his room. Before entering, Johnny remembered seeing what looked like an unfinished garden on the side of the house.

 _"Man, what an eyesore…"_ Johnny thought to himself.

"Well I know it's not much compared to your place, but this is home sweet home to us." Dojima said with pride as he shut the door behind him before looking at his nephew when he noticed the step that separated the doorway to the rest of the house. It was small, but still… "You need help…?"

"I can go up a step with this." Johnny replied before going in reverse until the wheels touched the step. Leaning back and giving a mighty push, Johnny got up the step and truly entered the household.

"I know it's not a custom in America, but would you mind…?" Dojima looked at Johnny's sneakers, causing the young man to sigh before using his hands to lift his right leg and take off the shoe. He repeated the same motion with his left leg before placing both back in their rests.

"So where's my room?" Johnny asked while Dojima just looked to the stairs.

"It's upstairs to the left." Dojima sighed, only now realizing what kind of problem this presented as he glanced down at his wheelchair bound nephew. Still, it was the only spare bedroom in the house and the man doubted Johnny would want to share Nanako's room. Teenagers his age needed their own space. "Come on, I'll help you up…"

"I can do it on my own." Johnny protested while Dojima shook his head.

"No way. What if you hurt yourself?" Dojima asked as he began to move to Johnny. "Come on, I'll…"

"I told you I don't need any help from you. Back off." Johnny said rudely.

Dojima glared at him. "Now see here. My sister told me to look after you and I just want to-"

"I said I can do it on my own!"

Johnny's sudden shout caused Nanako to flinch in fear and Dojima to glare at him, but Johnny didn't budge on this. He didn't want his uncle to help him. He had been doing a damn good job handling himself after getting out of that hospital.

Nobody had been around to help him then, or bothered to offer him any, so he didn't need any assistance now.

Johnny moved himself towards the stairs and gripped the railing. He then began pulling himself from the chair and up the stairs. Beads of sweat rolled down his face as he did so, but in a few moments he was at the top.

Dojima knew he should probably say something to his nephew, he really did. For showing disrespect, for being rude, and refuting help of any kind. But he just didn't know what to say. Not to mention some of his personality was understandable. _"He lost his brother, he lost his legs, his father barely acknowledges him… how much horrible crap can one kid go through?"_

"Um… G'night." Nanako softly called upstairs, receiving a hand wave from Johnny as thanks as he dragged himself to his open room.

Dojima might not have been able to help Johnny go up the stairs, but he sure as hell would be helping him go down, whether the kid wanted him to or not.

* * *

**xxXXxx**

Johnny opened one of the boxes that were inside the room and littered the floor. Dojima really hadn't been lying when he had said that all his stuff was inside the room.

The room itself wasn't half-bad. There was a sofa by the window, a small desk to work on, a study desk with a chair in the right corner, a TV on the left side of the wall, a brown closet to the left of the TV, and finally a cabinet to the right of the door.

Johnny had already decided how to place his stuff. His shirts, pants, underwear, socks and winter gear would be separated into different sections at the bottom of the closet for easy access. He could dress himself up easily enough by now. Any other non-essentials would go on the cabinet, which included his Yes and Fleetwood Mac CDs.

Johnny then reached into the box and picked up something he brought both for nostalgia and a reminder.

The last trophy he ever won.

It was just a medal really, made of solid gold and showed a jockey leaning down as his horse raced across the track. It was the first place medal. Johnny could remember that day clearly. The smell of his horse, the sound of him and the horse breathing as if one, the rush of speeding down the track, the clear blue sky, the cheering crowd…

_'I'm sorry, but you'll never be able to walk again."_

_"What the hell are you hanging around us for? You're nothing now!"_

_"Get away from us you damn cripple!"_

_"Have you heard? That 'famous jockey' lost his legs because he wanted to impress some slut."_

_"What a loser!"_

_"I'm so sorry about what happened to you…"_

_"God had taken the wrong son…"_

Johnny shook his head to dispel those memories and placed the award back in its box. Those were the voices that had been haunting him for years. He had everything and he had pissed it all away. But there was no use dwelling on it now. He was tired and wanted to sleep.

Dojima had placed one of those 'futon' things behind the study desk, but Johnny wasn't planning on sleeping in it. Why would he want to sleep on the floor? "At least a couch is in here…" Johnny then lifted himself onto the couch and laid down on it. His eyes grew heavy, and began to close on their own. "So I'm here for a whole year…"

**_Do you wish to learn the truth?_ **

Johnny's eyes were almost closed when he heard a voice speak to him. He partially opened his eyes again, confused when he found most of his vision obscured by fog.

"What the hell…? Did I open the window?" Johnny murmured sleepily.

His eyes began to close again, but he could see a silhouetted figure peering down at him. Johnny stared at the figure.

**_Well, well… it seems you can see a little despite the fog._ **

"What the… is this a dream?" Johnny muttered out as he squinted his eyes in an attempt to see the figure better.

**_Then if you desire the Truth, try your best to catch it._ **

Johnny wanted to ask who the disembodied voice belonged to, but his mouth would not work. Instead, he could do nothing but close his eyes and fall back into his slumber.

* * *

**_April 12th, 2011:_ **

* * *

A young woman with short brown hair and dressed in a green and yellow athletic jacket yawned, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Her name was Chie Satonaka, local tomboy, kung-fu enthusiast, and classmate of room 2-2. She had been up all night and barely got any sleep as a result. Not from studying of course, she didn't have the attention span for that. No, she had been marathoning her Bruce Lee movies and trying to imitate his fighting style. _"Maybe I shouldn't have tried the dropkick. Dad threw a fit when he saw the damage…"_

"Hey, did you hear?" One of her classmates to the right side of the room whispered to the one behind him. "A transfer student is coming here! All the way from America!"

"Why would he come all the way out here?" The other one asked with a confused expression on his face. "There's nothing out here!"

"Oh, I heard the new transfer student is a dreamboat!" One of the girls gossiped with her friends, who all giggled as they fantasized.

"Transfer student?" Chie whispered to herself. This was the first time she had heard this particular rumor. And a foreigner at that? "You know anything about this, Yukiko?"

Yukiko Amagi was Chie's best friend. She wore a red sweatshirt over her school shirt like Chie wore her jacket over hers. She also had a red hairband to keep her long, beautiful black hair in place. Her grey eyes and fair skin always seemed to make all the guys instantly fall for her. But despite all that, Yukiko always relied on Chie to get her out of trouble. Always…

"No. This is actually my first time hearing it." Yukiko replied with a shake of her head, causing Chie to look behind her at Yosuke Hanamura. He had unkempt fawn hair and brown eyes, and while he wore the school uniform he also had a pair of red headphones around his neck. "At least you won't be the only transfer student now, Yosuke."

"Great. Thanks for the consideration." Yosuke muttered as he placed his head back on the desk. Obviously, he had also spent the night doing something like watching TV instead of studying as well.

Suddenly, the door burst open to reveal none other than Kinshirou Morooka a.k.a King Moron walking in. "Okay, the lot of you shut up!" King Moron then walked to his desk and stayed standing as he looked around the room with disdain in his eyes. "As you've all heard, we've got a new transfer student all the way from America, land of criminals and other degenerates." He then looked out to the still opened door and shouted, "What the hell are you waiting for? Come in!"

Chie looked and lightly gasped at what she saw. His American features stood out, with blonde hair and blue eyes wearing the standard Yasogami High uniform, save for a reversed cap that had a silver horseshoe design and several white stars on the adjustment strap. However, one thing set him apart from the rest of the kids in the class.

He was in a wheelchair.

The room turned deathly silent as the new student pushed himself in, glaring at King Moron a bit before turning to the chalkboard and writing a name in katakana. It's literal translation was 'Jyonii Jyosutaa', but considering this was a guy from the states, she could more or less guess that his actual name was 'Johnny Joestar'.

"This little punk was kicked out from the United States and tossed out here in the boonies, making him a fugitive. Probably thought he was all hot shit and got in trouble with the wrong people. It's probably why he's even in that chair to begin with!" King Moron declared.

Chie could not help but give a sympathetic flinch for the new student. King Moron was the worst.

Johnny frowned as the teacher jabbed a finger at him, sneering as he rounded on him. "Now, don't go thinking that your condition will get you any sympathy, trying to get the girls to be all maternal and feeling sorry for you. You punks always try to take advantage of your condition and try to make others sympathize with you. Well, just because that worked out in America doesn't mean it'll work out here! He may think his condition will get him all the girls, but so long as I'm around I'll make sure he and the rest of you horn dogs stay as pure as snow!"

"What the hell is your problem?" Johnny asked angrily, glaring at the teacher with utter hatred. "My being in this wheelchair and coming from the States have nothing to do with each other, you ass!"

"Why you…!" King Moron's face turned red with anger at being called out, and the class could not help but watch the event unfold before them. "If you were expecting any special treatment you can forget it! Your name is going down on my shit list, effective immediately! I don't know what kind of filthy institution you came from, but we don't tolerate you spewing your American crap here!"

"You're the one spewing crap!" Johnny shouted back, and King Moron looked like he was about to blow a blood vessel.

 _"Crap! If nothing is done King Moron is really going to expel that guy!"_ While Chie had always dreamed of the day King Moron would be called out, she didn't want someone to get expelled for it! Thinking quickly, Chie raised her hand and called out, "Sir!" Both King Moron and Johnny looked at her for interrupting their 'discussion'. "There's an empty seat by me. Can he sit here?"

"S-sure…" King Moron then returned to glaring at Johnny before shouting, "Go and sit your ass down!"

"I'm already sitting down, jackass." Johnny muttered under his breath.

"What was that?!"

"Nothing, I'm going."

Johnny shot the teacher another glare before rolling over to the seat right beside Chie. After pulling the chair out, Johnny lifted himself from his wheelchair and onto the school chair. Once he had placed his feet in place correctly, Johnny scooted himself in.

"Hey, sorry about that." Chie whispered to Johnny with a smile. "We call him King Moron. He's the worst."

"I can see why. How do you put up with that asshole?" Johnny whispered back, causing Chie to shrug.

"We get by. Just don't try to get on his bad side too often." Chie then decided to look forward, considering King Moron was giving them the stink eye. "My name is Chie. Chie Satonaka."

Johnny looked at Chie carefully. She was… fairly plain all things considered. Probably a tomboy too, considering her attitude around him. She seemed nice, but it was probably an act. Johnny remembered the girls from the higher class back home. They pretended to be nice, and then threw people to the side when they lost value.

But then again… Johnny could need someone to talk to. _'But the moment she shows anything that is even remotely like those bitches, I'm bailing.'_ "I'm Johnny Joestar…"

"Zip it you two!" Both Chie and Johnny clammed up as King Moron slapped his plans on the desks. "Alright listen up! Homeroom is about to begin…"

* * *

**xxXXxx**

King Moron's lecture went on for what seemed like hours. Johnny could swear that he saw some students just take a nap. Hell, the kid behind him was softly snoring. Johnny was actually planning to do the same, before King Moron announced "That's all for today. Normal lectures begin tomorrow."

 _"His intro lecture was just him going on and on about how we shouldn't be having sex and the 'good old days'! What the hell kind of teacher is he!?"_ Johnny thought to himself in exasperation as he began to pack his books and stuff into the backpack he brought over. He placed the backpack in his wheelchair's basket, and could not help but overhear a couple of his classmates talking.

"Hey, I watched that Midnight Channel thing last night! That Yamano lady is totally my soul mate!"

"Keep dreaming! Wasn't she having a fling with Councilman Namatame?"

"Midnight Channel?" Johnny asked himself in confusion as he lifted himself back onto his wheelchair. "Is that a fortune-telling thing or something else?" Probably was, considering that guy believes that announcer lady was his soul mate from it. What a bunch of crap. There was no such thing as a 'soul mate'. Just the woman you can stand to be around for several years. As Johnny placed his legs back on the rests, he looked outside and saw a thick fog covering everything. "They get fog all the way out here?"

Several chimes then came out of the loudspeaker before a voice called out, _"Attention all students, there has been an incident reported in town. Please remain calm, and return to your homes immediately. I repeat…"_

 _"Hm. Wonder what that could all be about."_ Johnny thought curiously before he noticed that Chie girl and another girl wearing a lot of red had walked over to him.

"Hey Johnny, are you going home by yourself?" Chie asked in curiosity before smiling. "If you are, why don't you come with us? This is Yukiko Amagi."

She had originally planned to have Yukiko walk with her home, but it would also be pretty cool to have the new transfer student walking, er, _going home_ with them. Plus, the poor guy probably wanted some company after King Moron made fun of his condition. And who knew? Maybe they'd get to know each other better, and he probably had some pretty good stories, growing up in a different country and all. _"Helps that he isn't swooned by Yukiko…"_

"I'm so sorry for pestering you." The girl in red apologized, making Chie become all flustered from embarrassment.

"Yukiko! Don't apologize! It makes me look like I've got no upbringing!" Chie shouted while Johnny sighed and bit the inside of his cheek.

So it was happening already? Girls were beginning to flock to him, probably out of pity. Well, he might as well end it here…

"I don't know where you guys live. I probably live somewhere ways away from your places." Johnny then began to turn. "I'm sure you'll be fine on your own…"

"W-what the hell kind of guy just leaves two women alone!?" Chie shouted in anger as she glared at Johnny. "We were just trying to be nice! There's no reason for you to be an ass!"

Johnny stopped moving, and his eyes widened. That was literally the first time someone had the nerve to call him that. Not make fun of him for his disability, not stand there in silence, but just straight-up call him an ass.

Hell, it had been a long time since he'd encountered someone so seemingly straightforward. But was it really genuine…?

"…Fine. Just wait for me downstairs. I've got to take the elevator down."

Chie had to blink at that reply. Johnny had just seemed determined to not go walk with them a second ago, but now he was perfectly fine with it? Was it because she pointed out that he was acting like a jerk? Well, it didn't matter if he was joining them in the end…

"Alright then." Chie smiled. "We'll just-"

"Hey thanks Chie!" Yosuke suddenly shouted as he jumped in front of her. He held up her case of Trial of the Dragon up. "I loved it, it was totally cool! The way they moved and the… er, well then…" Yosuke then all but threw the case at her, and Chie could not help but notice he was now sweating bullets. "…Later!" Yosuke was now beginning to run, but Chie would have none of it.

"Hold it!"

Both Johnny and Yukiko winced when they saw Chie's leg kick up and strike Yosuke in a place that made his voice raise several octaves higher than normal. Chie huffed and bent down to pick up her DVD case, gasping at what she found when she opened it.

Her copy of Trial of the Dragon was cracked all the way to the center.

"Ah! You cracked the disk, you tool!" Chie then looked at Yosuke with utter fury. "How could you do this to my Trial of the Dragon!?"

"I'm sorry Chie! It was an accident! I'll make it up to you when I get my next paycheck!" Yosuke moaned out in pain while Chie just huffed.

"Did you seriously break a girl's stuff that she borrowed to you?" Johnny asked while shaking his head. "Yeah, she's not going to forgive you for a while."

"Are you okay?" Yukiko asked curiously to Yosuke, while Chie just huffed and began walking on.

"Don't be nice to this jerk! Let him suffer!" Chie announced, causing Yukiko to nod before following her. As the two cleared the door, Johnny took one last look at the guy who broke Chie's DVD.

Looked kind of like the local pushover. Probably that annoying kid every school had that tried to have everyone like him and failed miserably.

In the end, Johnny just decided to leave him be and pushed himself towards the location of the building's elevator, right by the left stairs.

* * *

**xxXXxx**

The three of them were walking down one of the streets of Inaba, mostly in silence. It turned out that their houses were more or less the same route as Dojima's place. But the thing that weirded out Johnny is how quiet the town was. There were almost no signs of activity whatsoever.

"So…" Chie began, turning her head to Johnny. "Why did you come way out here and not Tokyo?"

"My uncle lives here." Johnny answered truthfully as he continued to push himself forward. "And honestly he's the one farthest away from the States."

"Oh? So you wanted to visit him?" Yukiko asked curiously. "Were you two close?"

"Close? I haven't seen him for years. Hardly even know him." Johnny replied, his expression beginning to darken. "But there was no way in hell I was staying at my parents' place."

"O-oh…" Chie kinda felt guilty now for beginning the conversation. Obviously, Johnny was going through some family troubles or something of that nature. _"It's so sad… He had to come here just for that…"_ Still! It was her duty to cheer the guy up! "Anyway, it is really quiet here! So there isn't much for us to show you, but I guess that's what makes it cool!" Chie then looked up in thought before saying, "Though there is something from Mt. Yasogami… I think our dried clothes or pottery or something is kinda famous…"

"Sounds amazing." Johnny replied without any enthusiasm or interest whatsoever, causing Chie to laugh uncomfortably before a great idea popped into her head.

Yes! There was that!

"There's the Amagi Inn! Yukiko's family runs the place, and it's the pride of Inaba!" Chie declared, causing Johnny to raise an eyebrow. What was so great about an Inn?

"I-It's nothing special. It's just an old inn!" Yukiko denied, causing Johnny to be even more confused. Shouldn't she take more pride in a compliment like that?

"No way! It's been in all sorts of magazines as a hidden treasure!" Chie then turned towards Johnny and said, "It's a great inn! It's been going for generations, and Yukiko here is going to take over some day!"

"So… it's one of those family run places, huh?" Johnny observed, causing Yukiko to fidget a bit. "You gonna inherit the place?"

"Well, I mean… I don't… that's, um…" Yukiko stammered out, only for Chie to jump in.

"'Course she is! It's what she wants to do! Isn't that right Yukiko?" Chie asked, turning towards her friend.

"…Yes." Yukiko wanted to say no, but this is what was expected of her. She had to run the place, no matter what.

"There! Now that that's settled…" Chie then smirked and asked, "So you think Yukiko's cute?"

Johnny blinked in shock. He had not been expecting to answer that question. Taking a look at Yukiko, he supposed that she was attractive… she had long silky black hair, her skin was fair, her legs were long and firm, and she had almost no fat on her. But like Chie, she was fairly normal. Not like those girls he used to flirt around with… back when he could walk and was somebody…

"Kinda…"

"Oh come on! You gotta be more truthful about these things!" Chie then looked back at Johnny. "You know, Yukiko's popular with the guys at our school yet has never had a boyfriend. Kind of weird huh?"

 _"That sounds more like an insult than a funny coincidence."_ Johnny thought to himself as Yukiko firmly denied she was either popular or needed a boyfriend to Chie. How could those two be friends? They seemed so different from each other, not to mention Chie kind of insulted her so-called 'friend'. Johnny then noticed a commotion going on in front of one of the streets. "Hey, what's going on there?"

"Huh?" Chie asked before noticing the commotion as well. "Hey, let's check it out!" The three students then went to the street. There were several cop cars parked behind yellow police tape, and several residents were looking on. Johnny himself heard several housewives gossiping amongst themselves.

"So as that high schooler left school early, and as she came down this street…"

"Wow, who could imagine THAT hanging from an antenna?"

"I wanted to see it too."

"Oh you got here too late. The police and fire department took it down just a moment ago."

"Well I think it's terrifying! I can't believe a dead body showed up around here!"

"Woah!" Chie gasped in shock. "Did she just say… a dead body? Like… a murder? Here? In Inaba?"

That was just bizarre and wrong on so many levels!

"And it was hung from an antenna?" Yukiko asked herself as she began to morbidly look at the TV antennas on the houses for a glimpse at the crime. Something this horrible makes people want to actually want to see the event themselves, no matter how horrible it was.

"Huh. Guy must have a sick idea for art." Johnny muttered to himself while scratching the back of his neck. Sticking a dead body on an antenna? Talk about a twisted way of boasting about a crime…

"Hey! What are you kids doing here!?"

Johnny turned his head to see Dojima walking from the police line to him, his eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Any reason why you're here, Johnny?"

"Oh, well, it was just such a lovely day out that the three of us decided to spend it by checking out a murder scene. After all, how often does one get to see a dead body?" Johnny said sarcastically, holding up his hand when his uncle glared at him. "Look, we just happened to pass by on our way home. What are you doing here?"

"Oh right, you probably don't know." Dojima gave a small sigh while pinching the bridge of his nose. "I didn't get a chance to tell you before, but I'm actually a detective and I'm out here on the job. And Johnny, you shouldn't joke about things like this, especially not to me."

"…Got it."

"Wait, you know this guy?" Chie asked, gaping in shock. The two looked totally different from each other. Wait, didn't Johnny say he was staying at his uncle's place? Could it be…?

"I'm Ryotaro Dojima, his… I guess you can call me Johnny's guardian." Dojima gave off a sigh as he said, "I know he may be rough around the edges, but I hope you get along with him."

Johnny then watched as a person darted out from the police line and passed him before beginning to throw up on the side of the road. This seemed to piss off Dojima as he shouted, "Adachi! How many times have I told you!? If you keep acting like a rookie, I'm going to be sending you back to do desk work!"

"S-Sorry, boss…" Adachi replied before continuing to throw up on the side of the road.

Dojima then looked back at the three students and said, "Listen, this isn't the place for high schoolers. Go straight home, please." Dojima then looked solely at Johnny and said, "Your mother will kill me if anything else bad happened to you while you are under my care."

"Ah, she worries too damn much…" Johnny muttered darkly while looking to the side.

Dojima said nothing and instead headed back to the crime scene. Now was not the time or place for this. He had a job to do, but still… _"Just what the hell went on between the Joestars?"_ His sister only told him bits and pieces of what went down between Johnny and his father. Apparently, there was an incident in Nicholas' old bedroom, and Johnny accidentally knocked down his father into a mirror, where George uttered something that stated his dislike towards his youngest son. While hatred for his father was understandable, Dojima could not understand why Johnny seemed to have no positive feelings about his mother.

"W-wow, this sounds serious…" Chie muttered before turning to Yukiko. "Hey Yukiko, why don't we cancel our plans for Junes today?"

"Wait, that was where we were going?" Johnny asked in irritation. "I thought we were just going home!"

"I meant we would have gone afterwards!" Chie replied with a huff. She then let her face soften before saying, "You know, if you want we can keep you company to your house…"

Johnny let out a sigh. While the offer was nice, Johnny still could not believe he had almost been suckered into going to this 'Junes' place. "Thanks, but my place isn't that far off. Go and do whatever. I'll be fine." With that Johnny began to roll away. "See you tomorrow."

Giving Johnny a wave goodbye as he went off, Yukiko turned to Chie and asked, "So what did you think of him?"

"Well, he was kind of a jerk…" Chie admitted as she and Yukiko began walking another direction. "But I think I would be pretty pissed if I was stuck in a wheelchair all the time."

"Still, not being able to walk… I can't even imagine what that would be like…" Yukiko muttered to herself while Chie gave a nod.

Still, Johnny was a lot more sociable when he was actually talking to them. He would eventually learn that he could depend on Chie for anything he needed.

Just like Yukiko depended on her…

* * *

**xxXXxx**

It had only taken Johnny several minutes to get to the Dojima Residence and open the door. The house was only a few blocks away from the shopping district, and Johnny could remember the route Dojima took to get to the house from there.

"Welcome back…" Nanako's soft voice greeted him, making Johnny turn to see her kneeling by the table and watching television. One of those anime shows that Japan was known for, probably one geared towards kids and not the ones that had tits that were impossibly large on the women and in no way could be natural. "Did you like your school?"

"Eh, it was okay." Johnny replied as he used his hands to take off his shoes from his feet and reversed the wheelchair to go up the step inside. "Could go without my teacher though."

Hey, it was small talk with a kid. He could at least give her the courtesy of answering her question.

"Oh, okay." Nanako replied before looking at the table in gloom. "Dad said he's going to be late for dinner…"

The way she said it made it sound like her father's tardiness wasn't entirely unexpected, giving Johnny the impression that Dojima wasn't around as often as Nanako liked. His father never really talked to him when he came home for dinner, unless it was to scold him or just comment on how insignificant his latest race was since he wasn't Nicholas, or couldn't even beat some British jockey. So he couldn't really comment on how Nanako felt without her father around.

"Listen, I'm not hungry, so I'm just gonna hang out in my room. That okay?" There was a flash of hurt in Nanako's eyes, but it was gone in another second.

"That's okay. I'll be fine here." Nanako said, making Johnny nod. At least she was cool with this. She'd probably enjoy dinner more without having to listen to him gripe.

Grabbing the railing of the stairs, Johnny lifted himself from his chair and began pulling himself up. Due to his condition, he had pretty good muscles on his upper body for pushing himself around often. But it still was a hassle to support his whole body weight.

"Come on Johnny, just a few more stairs…" Suddenly, the unexpected happened.

One of his feet, he didn't know which since he couldn't feel anything down there, got caught on the edge of a step.

Johnny let go of the railing in shock, and tumbled down to the bottom. "Ah! Shit!" Johnny cried out in pain as he held his head. It slammed right onto the floor. He wasn't bleeding and his vision wasn't blurry, so that was a good thing…

"Are you okay!?" Nanako asked as she ran to him, her eyes filled with worry and panic.

"I'm fine…" Johnny groaned as he began to right himself before patting his legs. He had to check if they were broken or something, since he couldn't really feel anything. Nothing felt broken or out of place… "I'll get up there no problem…"

Instead of standing back like he expected, Nanako instead rushed to his right side and put his arm over her tiny shoulders. "What are you…?" Nanako then tugged as she began climb up the stairs, trying to pull him up with her. "Hey come on, stop…"

"But you fell down when you tried to go up." Nanako protested as she tried and failed to pull him with her. "I wanna help you since Dad isn't here."

"You don't need to do this!" Johnny snapped as he began pulling his arm back. "I'm fine on my own!"

Why? Why was she doing this? They hardly knew each other! She probably already knew by now that she couldn't even hope to move him! It didn't make any sense! She was a freaking kid, and she was trying to help out… someone like him…

Was it pity? No, pity wouldn't sit right with a child like Nanako. She was too young to understand the very concept. So was it that… she was just being nice to her cousin?

Johnny then placed his left hand on one of the steps and pushed down to lift himself up one step. Nanako still held onto his arm, refusing to let go and believing that she was helping him. He repeated the process with each step, wondering if Nanako truly wanted to do this out of the kindness of her own heart or not.

Eventually, they reached the top of the steps, And Johnny sat down while taking his arm off of Nanako. "You know that you didn't have to do that…"

Despite being red in the face from the effort, she shook her head and began fidgeting. "B-but we're family… You got hurt so I…"

"Well… Thanks…" Johnny muttered to himself while looking away. So she really did just innocently wanted to help a family member. "I'm… going to bed…" Without another word, he began dragging himself to his room. But when he reached the door, he turned to Nanako and said, "Good night."

Johnny sighed as he pulled himself onto the couch. His cousin, she… it couldn't have been pity. Kids were too young and innocent to try and really take advantage of others. Well, some brats were, but looking at her and remembering the earnestness in her voice Johnny had a hard time believing that she was a bad kid deep down inside…

* * *

**_April 13th, 2011:_ **

* * *

Johnny just stared at the person who was flailing around in a garbage can. Someone inside was shouting that it smelled along with whining in disgust. Honestly, this was not what he had been expecting to see this morning. He just wanted to go to school, get his required amount of education for the day, and head back to Dojima's place.

After Nanako's attempt to help him last night, he had to admit that she had successfully managed to endear herself to him somewhat. She was an innocent little thing, yet obviously pretty depressed about her father never being around. Hell, she even cooked him breakfast! If it was a regular thing, he could imagine that things might be a little hard on her with her father gone most of the day.

But that didn't matter now. He was seeing some guy stuck in a trash can while everyone laughed and walked away. For all intents and purposes, he should just roll on ahead.

 _"Shit, I just can't leave him like this…"_ Johnny thought with a sigh before rolling his wheelchair by the trash can and pulled on the back of the guy's uniform jacket. In a second, the person was pulled out and landed on his ass, revealing it to be… _"Oh, him."_ It was the guy who broke Chie's DVD. Yo-something.

"Aw man, thanks dude. You totally saved me…" Yosuke whined out before perking up as he saw who it was. "Hey! You're that new transfer student right? Johnny Joestar?"

"Correct. You deserve a prize." Johnny replied before he began to turn back towards the route to the school. Since the guy was alright now, there was no reason to stick around.

"Hey, come on! Wait up!" Yosuke then ran up next to Johnny and said, "I'm Yosuke Hanamura! We go to the same class together! So, you get used to the town yet?"

"I've only been here for three days. Course I don't know everything about this place." Johnny replied as he continued to push himself forward. "Do you bug everyone like this?"

Yosuke still kept the smile on his face, but inside that comment stung. It reminded him a lot about those girls that worked at Junes. Always calling him in on favors but talking shit behind his bag. But maybe, just maybe, he could get the new guy to like him.

 _"Besides, the guy's a cripple, so he probably doesn't have many people to hang out with."_ Yosuke reasoned to himself.

And it might be a little interesting to hang out with a foreigner. Plus, the way he talked back to King Moron on his first day earned him some points.

"Oh come on! Don't be like that! Listen, as thanks for helping me out and to welcome you to Inaba, I'll treat you to some steak! You know, we're famous for that out here. It's kinda dull, but what do you expect from a town like this?"

Johnny thought it over a bit. The guy was annoying the way he pestered him, but then again he was also offering him a free meal. So why not?

"Sure, I'm fine with that." Johnny agreed.

"You can count me in on that!"

The two turned their heads to see Chie smirking mischievously as she began twirling the case of the DVD Yosuke broke in her right hand. "This is how you can pay me back for breakin' my stuff!"

* * *

**xxXXxx**

"WHAAT!?" Chie shouted as she stared at the plate Yosuke brought to her. "You stingy tightwad! This isn't steak!"

"No kidding. Looks like meatballs to me." Johnny replied while poking his plate, which was the same as Yosuke and Chie's, with a fork as he sat in the table they had chosen in his wheelchair. The three had gone to the 'Junes' place in town, which seemed to be like the Walmart of Japan, or something of that manner. Probably the reason why so many of the stores on main street were closed.

"Yeah, sorry man." Yosuke muttered his apology as he sat down with his own plate. "After Chie decided to hop on the freeloader train I had to change my plans. These are meat croquettes. Trust me, they're good."

"What was that!?" Chie declared as she stood up and glared at Yosuke. "It's your fault for breaking my Trial of the Dragon!"

"He did say he would pay you back with his next paycheck." Johnny commented while cutting into his meatball-like meal.

"Oh just stay out of this! And that was a limited edition copy! Limited edition!" Chie stressed before letting out a dissatisfied huff. "I was all pumped up for some juicy steak…!"

"And I'm currently mourning the loss of having said steak." Johnny replied as he took a bite. The croquette was kinda hot, but still good. Nice and meaty yet he could taste the bread.

"Would you two stop complaining and just eat your meat already?" Yosuke sighed. "I'm the one treating you…"

"I know, I know. Geez..." Chie muttered as she began digging into her food. She then looked at the American and asked, "Say, Johnny, did you hear anything about that body that was found yesterday?"

"Why ask me?" Johnny questioned the girl.

"Well, that detective was your uncle, right? I was just curious if he told you something…" Chie trailed off.

"Oh, you mean about that body found strung up on that antennae yesterday afternoon? That was all over the news last night." Yosuke said before turning to Johnny. "Dude, your uncle was investigating it?"

"Yeah he was, but I don't know anything about it. We haven't had a lot of time to talk lately." Johnny replied.

"I heard that it was actually that reporter that had an affair with that councilman. Mayumi Yamano, I think…" Chie said as she looked up in thought.

"Seriously? Man, I can't believe that happened here. Hanging a dead body out in the street like that? Now that's just messed up!" Yosuke said, shivering a little. "There's no way something like that happens by accident, so if someone did it… hope whoever's responsible has already been caught. I don't like the idea of a murderer wandering the streets. Better be careful."

"I'll be on my toes then." Johnny spoke while taking a sip of his drink.

"Let's change the subject." Chie wanted to get rid of the goosebumps on her body as soon as possible. Let's see… what was there to talk about… Oh yeah! "Hey, did you hear about that Midnight Channel thing that has everyone talking?"

"I heard some guys talk about it after class yesterday." Johnny chimed in, looking at Chie with a raised eyebrow. "Is it like a fortune-telling thing or something?"

"Ah, it's just a superstition man." Yosuke replied with a wave of his hand. "Supposedly, it comes on when your TV is off at midnight on a rainy day."

"That's not all! I heard whoever shows up on it is supposed to be your soul mate!" Chie's grin grew even more as she looked at the two. "Come on, we have nothing better to do tonight! Let's just check it out! I heard it's supposed to be raining!"

"You sound like you actually believe it." Johnny smirked at Chie who sounded far too excited. "It sounds like that stupid dare game 'Bloody Mary'. It's probably a hoax."

"Yeah, Chie. Why are you getting so worked up over all of this?" Yosuke asked before sighing. "You know, this explains why you can't ever have a boyfrie-" The table then lifted for a second and Yosuke cried out in pain. Johnny noticed that Chie was righting herself in her seat. "Geez Chie! Lay off me! Man, right in the knee…" Suddenly, Yosuke burst up from his seat and began waving, as if the pain had never happened. "Hey! Saki-senpai!"

Johnny turned around to see a young woman with long and wavy brown hair wearing a Junes apron with a tired look on her face flinch for only a second before looking at Yosuke and saying, "Hey Hana-chan!"

Yosuke ran over to her and said, "Hey Senpai, are you feeling alright?"

"I'm just a bit tired is all." Saki replied while adjusting her hair. Yosuke's concern all but shouted out that he obviously had the hots for this girl. She then seemed to look past Yosuke and notice Johnny. "Hey! You're the new foreign-exchange student right? Listen, Hana-chan doesn't have a lot of friends. I mean he's pretty nice but if he starts bugging you just let me know right away! I'll come over to help you out!" That last comment spread pain across Yosuke's face, and the sinking feeling that Saki might actually hate him in the youth's guts.

Johnny's eyes shot up in shock. Was this chick hitting on him while insulting the guy who obviously likes her at the same time? _"Geez, and I thought I was away from bitches like that."_

"I'm just kidding you know!" Saki declared, making Yosuke sigh in relief.

"Y-you know Senpai that isn't really funny…" Yosuke chuckled while scratching the back of his head nervously.

"He does know she isn't joking right?" Johnny whispered to Chie, who blinked before nervously laughing.

"M-maybe it seems that way, but you never know!" Chie honestly wanted to say that Saki was just joking, but those little stabs at Yosuke almost seemed too sincere. As if she were giving her honest opinion on Yosuke. Yosuke then got back into his chair, smiling and humming as he did so. "Hey, what's got you so chipper?"

Yosuke smiled as he held up a ticket to that spy romance movie that was now playing in theatres. Johnny didn't know the name itself, but he believed that it was some Japanese James Bond ripoff.

But that aside, Johnny could tell what it meant.

Yosuke got himself a date.

"Oh man, I now see where you're coming from!" Chie laughed out while Johnny sighed as he ate more of his food.

It would be better just to tell the guy that the girl just wasn't into him. Might prevent him some heartbreak in the future. But then again it wasn't his business.

Nevertheless, he honestly didn't hate talking to the two. It just seemed… normal. It was a weird kind of normal too compared to the gatherings of the higher class he had usually obligated to go to. Yosuke was a bit annoying, but talking with him and Chie beat just going straight home and watching TV until he passed out or listening to music. He didn't need to be their friend per-say, he could just talk to them from time to time. Just that and nothing more.

It would prevent any pain from befalling him if it turned out that they were just like his old 'friends'.

* * *

**xxXXxx**

After about an hour more of just listening to Chie and Yosuke bicker, the three bid farewell to each other and left for their respective homes. Johnny had been able to arrive just in time for dinner at the Dojima household. They were having store-bought sushi. Luckily, Johnny had tried the stuff before so he laid claim to all the tuna pieces. _"Could have done without the wasabi though…"_

Surprisingly, in Japan they eat at the small table on their knees. Not that it bothered Johnny, since he could get into the position without a problem thanks to not feeling anything like stress on his legs. But he kept the wheelchair nearby to move from there to the stairs quickly and easily.

 _"What did you think when you found her?"_ The reporter on the screen asked a girl who had the top part of her head cropped off for 'censoring'. But it was useless. Johnny could instantly tell it was that Saki chick from her hair.

 _"Well… I only…"_ Saki replied, obviously nervous around the reporter. But rather than backing off, he just kept pressing on.

 _"Did you see anyone who seemed suspicious to you?"_ The reporter asked, as if gleeful with interviewing something 'important' like this. It honestly made Johnny a bit sick.

_"No! Not really…"_

_"And that concludes our report on the girl who discovered Mayumi Yamano's body earlier this morning."_

"Do they seriously call that an interview?" Johnny asked in an exasperated tone. "Geez, the people in this town need to calm down. It's a murder, not some attraction…"

Dojima then let out a snore, signaling that he truly was asleep, which Johnny had suspected since the man did close his eyes only a few moments ago. "I think Dad's asleep." Nanako got up from her 'seat' and walked to a small basket on the side of the couch. She picked up a blanket and began covering Dojima as he slumbered. "He was up all night yesterday. Said it was for work…"

Johnny could only keep silent as he looked to the side. There it was again. That same hurt little voice from Nanako. She must've really been lonely

 _"At Junes, everyday is customer appreciation day!"_ The voice of a commercial seemed to perk up Nanako as she looked at the TV. _"Come in and experience it for yourself!"_

"Every day is great at your Junes~!" Nanako sung out with the commercial, and Johnny couldn't help but find it a bit cute how she sung it. "I'm gonna take my bath now!" Nanako then ran off, cheerily humming the commercial's tune.

Johnny scratched the back of his head. There were some things he wouldn't be able to get about his cousin he supposed. _"Might as well go to my room and catch that Midnight Channel thing…"_

* * *

**xxXXxx**

Johnny had been able to kill time by listening to his CDs. It was more out of boredom, but he did also enjoy the music itself. The idea of becoming a rockstar had come across his mind when he was five, and Nicholas even joked that he would be the drums player if Johnny were to actually go through with it.

 _"Damn, Nicholas…"_ It still hurt, whenever he thought about his dead older sibling. He was everything Johnny never was. A perfect boy. Nicholas got all the high grades, he won respect just by talking to people. Hell, he was even a better jockey. Despite all that, Nicholas still loved Johnny, and always looked after him. And Johnny loved and admired his big brother, wanting to become just like him.

And now he was dead… Dead and gone for good…

Johnny shook his head. No. He promised to never cry for Nicholas after that day with his father. He didn't deserve to shed tears for his big brother…

Instead, Johnny looked back at the clock. It was only a couple of seconds to midnight. He had switched the lights off, and he could hear the rain outside. "Well, here goes nothing…" Johnny muttered to himself as the clock struck midnight…

…and nothing came on the TV.

Johnny sighed. Figures. Was this some sort of prank going around to fool suckers like him, Chie, and Yosuke to stay up all night? And who's to say Chie and Yosuke even actually stayed up to watch the thing? "Fucking waste of my time…"

Just as Johnny was about to crawl back into the couch and go to bed, the TV suddenly began to glow yellow. "The hell?" Johnny could see a picture. Wasn't that the Saki girl that Yosuke had the hots for? "Is this for real?" Johnny then began lifting his right hand to the TV screen, as if to confirm that this was actually happening.

**_I am thou…_ **

A sudden pain then erupted from Johnny's brain, causing him to gasp.

**_Thou art me…_ **

"Damn it! This again!?" Johnny cried out as he staggered. It was just like the voice from that one night, though a little different. He reached up to support himself and ended up pressing his hand against the screen of his television…

…Only for his hand to suddenly sink through the screen itself!

"The hell?!" Johnny shouted in alarm.

**_But you must first come and accept me._ **

Johnny then gasped as he felt like he was being sucked into it. He placed his left hand on the frame of the TV and began to push.

**_And I shall be waiting…_ **

Johnny's eyes widened when he _felt_ something move. His eyes shot down his right leg. He could've sworn that…!

The shock was so great that Johnny pushed himself hard with his left hand, falling from the TV and hitting his head against his table.

"FUCK!" Johnny cursed, springing up and clutching the back of his head with his hands. He let out a pained hiss as his head throbbed.

"Johnny?" Nanako's voice called out to him from the other side of his door. "Are you okay? I heard a noise…"

"It's nothing!" Johnny replied quickly as he leaned back against the table. "I'm fine… go back to sleep."

"Okay…"

Johnny listened as she walked back downstairs to her room before frantically patting his leg, trying to see if he could move it. Johnny frowned when the limbs just laid there, as unmoving as ever.

Johnny still couldn't feel a thing. No sensation, no nothing. Just like before. Just like it has been for two years.

"…Just what the hell was that?" Johnny asked himself as he stared at the TV.

_This story is the tale of Johnny Joestar starting to walk._

_Not only in the physical sense, but from adolescence to adulthood._

_In this tale, Johnny Joestar begins to learn that he doesn't need to be alone._

_That bonds with others can help the broken bird fly again…_

* * *

 

**_The Infamous Man Presents..._ **

**A Different Kind of Truth**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! This fic was originally posted on FF.Net and Spacebattles. However, due to the fact that I like this site's downloading option and wide variety of fics not available on the sites mentioned above, I am posting this here.
> 
> ADKoT is very important to me due to the fact that I invest so much into making all the characters true to their canon selves but also have them interact with one another in different ways. Not to mention adding the usual JoJo flare to the fights themselves, but that will come later.
> 
> Any and all criticism is welcome, so that I may improve in the future.


	2. Tusk Act 2

**_April 14th, 2011:_ **

* * *

 

"Man, why did it have to rain today…" Chie muttered to herself as she ran down the route she usually took in order to get to school, her hair and clothes already completely soaked even as she dashed through the street.

The reason why she didn't have an umbrella was simple but ridiculous. She had watched a kung-fu movie where the main villain used an umbrella as part of his fighting style. The tip was a blade and the umbrella itself was reinforced with some sort of fake sheet metal alloy sure, but it was still awesome to watch! She had tried to imitate some of the moves shown, and…

…Well, she'd have to put aside some of her allowance for a new umbrella now.

She felt some relief when she saw a lone wheelchair-bound young man pushing himself through the rain a little ways away from her. While she had mixed feelings about the person, she was more happy to see an umbrella held above him thanks to some attachment on the back of the chair. Yukiko, who she would normally talk to on the way to school, was stuck working at her family inn for a few extra hours this morning. It wasn't the first time and Yukiko usually showed up after the first class or so, but it left her without someone to talk to unless she happened to bump into Yosuke who she was on relatively friendly terms with. But luckily, her new acquaintance Johnny Joestar was here now. While yesterday's little get together was a fun way to kill time, Johnny pretty much let her and Yosuke do most of the talking. And while he still was a sarcastic jerk, he seemed to ease up a bit the more he was around her and Yosuke.

The idea of barging into his space in order to have a moment of dryness had its appeal, but she wondered if it was right to impose on someone who was crippled. Well, she couldn't imagine him having a problem with her taking shelter underneath it for the rest of the way. With that in mind, she ran to Johnny shouting, "Hey!"

Johnny had only a second to register that it was Chie calling out for him before the girl matched his speed on his left side and leaned down to have his umbrella over her head. "Sorry, I don't have an umbrella right now…"

"What did you do?" Johnny asked with a raised eyebrow. "Break it?"

"Heh, something like that…" Chie let off with a nervous laugh. There was no reason to let him know about the details… she then noticed the bags under Johnny's eyes. "Hey, did you sleep all right? You look kinda tired."

"Watched that Midnight Channel thing you told me about." Johnny truthfully stated with a frown. "And I… hell. I don't even know if I was dreaming or not…" He then glared at her and said, "But you seem okay. Did _you_ actually see it?"

Chie huffed and turned her head away. "Of course I did! I wouldn't say we should all go see it if I wouldn't! I stay up all night anyways most of the time!" She then frowned and looked down, worry beginning to develop at the bottom of her stomach. "But I saw…"

She couldn't say it. It was too embarrassing, or rather too confusing. While the image that showed up last night was blurry, she could've sworn that the person who showed up was a girl. That raised a number of odd questions, and if she told him now…

Chie then shook her head. She couldn't think about this now! School was going to start soon! "You know what? I'll just tell you after school." She then ran forward. She was probably slowing the guy down. She waved behind her to the boy and shouted. "See you soon, Johnny!"

Johnny didn't wave back, and just stared at Chie's disappearing form. _"So she did actually see it? Huh…"_ She seemed hesitant to say what she had gone through just now. Could it be that she went through the same thing he did?

That whole thing with his hand being pulled into the TV was freaky. It felt like he was being sucked in, and he sure as hell didn't want to know what was on the other side. He hardly spoke to either Nanako or Dojima this morning, and instead just went straight off to school after eating some of the toast Nanako made.

It was just weird. The event was something out of an old-school horror story, or a show like The Twilight Zone. Not to mention that voice…

_"And my leg moving…"_

That little tid-bit kept Johnny up all night. He swore that he saw his right leg move an inch when he was being sucked into the TV. But it wouldn't move at all after that, and his lame legs were as still as they had been for two years. _"So was it a dream…?"_

He would ask Chie and Yosuke later to see if it was true or not.

Right now, he needed to get to school and make sure King Moron didn't suspend him for missing homeroom.

* * *

**xxXXxx**

School had been as boring as usual. While he didn't have to listen to King Moron all day like his first day, the other teachers were not any better than he was. Sure they weren't asses, but each one was a little over the top in their own way. Johnny's world history teacher was nicknamed Queen Tut for a damn good reason, since she wouldn't stop going on about anything that related to Egypt and given what she considered makeup.

But the day eventually came to a close, and Johnny was back on his wheelchair staring at Chie and Yosuke who were looking at him in turn.

"So… what did you see on the Midnight Channel?" Yosuke asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Why don't you tell me first?" Johnny pointedly asked. "That way I can know _you_ watched it."

"Oh come on! I totally did!" Yosuke declared, crossing his arms. "I just want to see if it was any different for a guy from America."

"Tch." Johnny clicked his tongue before answering. "I saw a girl on a yellow screen…" He then looked at Yosuke dead in the eyes. "Kinda looked like that Saki girl."

"W-wha…!" Yosuke shouted out in horror. "How could she be your…! Wait a sec…" Now that he thought about it, while he couldn't make much detail from the screen of the Midnight Channel, when he took who Johnny thought he saw and what he saw… when he put them together… "No way… I think I saw Saki-senpai too!"

"Oh thank god!" Chie cried out in relief, causing both guys to look at her. She decided to explain further. "Y-You see, I thought I saw a girl last night on the Midnight Channel. She had long hair and I could've sworn she was wearing our school uniform, but now that I'm thinking about it she did kinda look like Saki."

"So we all saw the same person…" Johnny muttered thoughtfully. "So we've all got the same soulmate?"

Both Johnny and Yosuke turned towards Chie and gave her perplexed looks. Her expression was defensive.

"W-What…?"

The two boys wisely chose not to say anything. Instead Yosuke shrugged and scratched the back of his head. "Well, that doesn't make any sense. Maybe the Midnight Channel doesn't show you your soulmate but just someone you know?"

"Are you all okay?"

The three students turned to see Yukiko approaching them. She had already packed her things and looked like she was getting ready to leave.

"It's nothing really important, Yukiko." Chie told her friend. "We're just talkin' about the Midnight Channel. You see it yesterday?"

"No, I was busy last night." Yukiko declared before looking back at the clock. "Sorry Chie, I need to go."

"Oh, your family calling for you?" Chie asked, receiving a nod from Yukiko. "It's cool if you go. Don't worry, I'll be fine here." Chie then smiled at her friend. "Just hang in there, okay?"

Yukiko happily nodded and walked out of the room. With the situation calmed down, Yosuke decided to ask, "Hey, it sounded like there was more to what you saw man. Tell us!"

Johnny thought about it for a second. Should he tell them? He still had no idea whether the whole thing was just a dream or not… But then again what the hell? "My TV tried to eat me."

Both Chie and Yosuke blinked in unison and asked, "Huh?"

"I touched the screen last night, and my hand was kinda… sucked inside." Johnny elaborated to the two. He wanted to gauge their reactions before he mentioned the part about his legs. "Would have pulled me inside if I didn't push away. There was even some weird voice telling me 'I am thou' and stuff."

A second passed between the two.

Yosuke and Chie then looked at him like he was crazy or something.

"Uh, you sure you weren't tired or something while you watched the Midnight Channel?" Yosuke asked with a raised eyebrow.

Chie nodded in agreement and said, "Maybe you were just dreaming it. Have you stayed up that late before?"

Johnny looked away, his face scrunching up in anger. So it was true. It was a dream. _"Just when I got my freakin' hopes up…"_ He had hoped, maybe even prayed that last night was not a dream. That his mind wasn't trying to fuck with him. That his feet did actually move from the weird occurrence. "Screw both of you…"

Yosuke turned his head and scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry, man. It must have been a freaky dream for you…"

Chie had to agree. Maybe Johnny was legitimately concerned about his dream being connected to the Midnight Channel? Still, speaking of TVs… "Wait, this reminds me! My family's been talking about buying a bigger TV!"

Yosuke smiled a bit. The change in mood was definitely welcome right now. Johnny kind of sucked the fun out of the air when you talked with him long enough. "Well, flatscreen TVs are in these days. You wanna go to Junes? We're beefing up our electronics department this month."

Chie was giddy with excitement. "Oh yes! My parents don't know anything about electronics, and I just got to see my kung-fu movies on the big screen!" She then turned to Johnny. "You're coming too."

"Why should I?" Johnny asked suspiciously, only to receive a glare from Chie.

"C'mon, you got anything better to do? Besides, if you're worried about that dream you had this way you can see that TVs are nothing to fear." Chie replied with a teasing smile.

Johnny felt a spike of anger at the jab, but was actually a little grateful that the girl wasn't afraid to take a shot at him in spite of his condition. Besides, the part of him that was curious, that was _hopeful,_ needed to confirm for himself…

"Jesus, _fine_ …" Johnny sighed. "I'll go with you guys."

Chie pumped her fist as if she had achieved some sort of victory while Yosuke just chuckled.

"Alright then, let's get going." Yosuke smiled before directing his smirk towards Johnny. "And don't worry. I'm sure we've got plenty of TVs big enough for you to fit through."

That comment earned a giggle from Chie and a glare from Johnny.

* * *

**xxXXxx**

"It pretty much _is_ a Walmart…" Johnny whispered to himself as he looked at the TVs lined up on the wall within the electronics section. There were no people or clerks around. Instead, it was just the three teenagers. "Hell, it's bigger than one!"

"Funny story about that." Yosuke commented with a wry grin. "My dad said that the creator actually got the idea from them and wanted to make it even better than one by making every store practically a mini-mall."

"Well I gotta admit, it was one good idea." Chie replied as she looked around. "Junes makes a lot of things more convenient. But… unfortunately a lot of the stores in the shopping district are closing since they're pretty empty nowadays…"

"Hey, you can't blame all that on Junes…" Yosuke tried to defend the store feebly as he looked away with a slightly guilty expression on his face.

Chie gave him a sheepish smile before turning back to look at the TVs in front of them. They were all lined up across the wall, each in various sizes but larger than anything her family ever owned… or could ever afford.

"Man, this thing is huge… and expensive. Who wants a TV that big?" Chie wondered aloud.

"People who need a boost in ego for being wealthy." Johnny answered for her, knowing why since his family considered the prices on the more expensive stuff mere pocket change. His family had _five_ 52 inch flatscreens in the house.

"Man, my family can't afford this…" Chie whined out before looking at Yosuke with pleading eyes. "Think you can get me a discount?"

"After you said that crap to my face? I wouldn't even if I could!" Yosuke declared out loud with crossed arms.

"Come on! At least I didn't say it behind your back!" Chie argued frantically, while Yosuke gave a sigh. That part was true…

"Why would you even think he could in the first place?" Johnny asked, making Yosuke nod. That's right. He didn't know yet.

"Well, my dad manages this store." Yosuke explained to the wheelchair-bound young man. "So when he got the job, I had to transfer to here from Tokyo six months ago."

"Anyway, don't you have any less expensive ones?" Chie asked Yosuke, and the two began discussing different models and the prices for each. Johnny kind of ignored them. Instead, he pushed himself to get closer to the blank 52 inch TV, which showed his reflection.

_"This sucks. That dream was so real too…"_ Johnny thought to himself before raising his right hand and moving it forward. _"It kinda felt like going through water, after I did thi-"_ Johnny's eyes then widened in shock.

His hand was through the TV, and the screen seemed to be _rippling_ in white from the disturbance.

Only one comment could describe what Johnny was feeling at that moment.

"Holy shit…!"

The two teenagers then ceased their conversation and observed the scene as well. "WOAH!" Yosuke cried out as he bent down and looked from Johnny to the TV and back again frantically. "Dude! What the hell!?"

"Y-you mean what you were saying before wasn't a dream!?" Chie shouted in fright as she looked at the scene from Johnny's left side. It was just like Johnny said! Like what they dismissed as Johnny having a dream! It was actually happening!

"No way! This is a magic trick or something! Right? Right?!" Yosuke tried to deny what he was seeing before him. There was no way this was really happening right? TVs don't just try to suck people in! This had to be some prank Johnny was pulling off as revenge for before!

Johnny tried to pull his arm back, but once again there was something sucking him inside! "No, it's not! Does it look like I'm faking this!? Help me out!"

"Is it trying to suck you inside like before!?" Chie cried out before grabbing Johnny's arm. "Yosuke! I need help!"

"Oh man! This is way too much for my bladder!" Yosuke shouted, grabbing his crotch and stomping in place.

Both Johnny and Chie gave him incredulous looks, the former of the two unable to resist making a jab, "Oh you _can't_ be serious…"

"I-I've been holding it in all day! I haven't had the chance to go!" Yosuke protested, causing Chie to gape in astonishment.

"Piss your pants another time! Johnny needs our help!" Chie shouted at the boy. She placed her right foot on the display table for leverage. "Yosuke!"

Yosuke groaned as he grabbed Johnny's other arm and shoulder, before noticing people from a few aisles down moving towards them. "Oh crap! Customers!" Yosuke gave a panicked hiss, trying to pull Johnny's body backwards. "Come on! We got to…!"

"Hold on!" Chie cried out as Yosuke accidentally bumped into her. The sudden interruption caused more of Johnny's arm to go into the TV with her hands!

Johnny's eyes widened in shock. The suction was becoming _even stronger_! "YOU IDIO-!" Johnny wasn't even to finish his sentence as the three were sucked fully into the TV, screaming, leaving only a tipped-over empty wheelchair in their wake.

* * *

**xxXXxx**

Johnny didn't know how to describe the experience of going into the TV. It was… weird. It was all white, and Johnny thought he was weightlessly going through black rectangles shaped like TV frames. It could be best described as 'trippy'.

But the weightlessness soon ended, as did the whiteness. Soon everything became yellow and foggy, and Johnny impacted hard onto the ground on his back. As Johnny groaned in pain, he felt something land on top of him with a scream, and a third scream and impact was heard behind him.

"Ah, dammit…!" Johnny moaned out in pain as he opened his eyes…

…And stared into Chie's…

"W-wha!?" Chie got off his body and backed up a bit, blushing a bit from the closeness they had before, and then blinking and becoming frightened as she said, "Oh my gosh Johnny, are you okay!?"

"I think so…" Johnny moaned as he lifted himself to sit up and look around. They were inside some sort of studio. There were ladders, stairways, and paths made of metal everywhere. But the fog kind of made it hard to see… "Where the hell are we…?"

"Ah man, I think I busted my ass…" Yosuke muttered as he stood up, massaging his supposedly broken posterior with pain written on his face.

"Forget that! I just want to get out of this place!" Chie shouted out, and Johnny couldn't really blame her. This place was seriously starting to give him the creeps. Now that he looked at it, the floor seemed like a target with the outlines of several people on it.

"You guys see an entrance anywhere?" Johnny asked, and the two began looking around frantically.

"Oh god, I can't see anything with this fog!" Chie was becoming frightened. This entire area was alien to her. What if she never got out? What if something was in here with them?

"Damn it! How are we supposed to get out?" Yosuke cried out before stopping. The two then began hearing strange squeaking sounds in the distance. All three turned their heads to see the outline of some round… _thing_ … with glowing eyes on one of the railways. "T-the hell is that thing!?"

"G-Grab Johnny and let's get out of here!" Chie shouted as she began backing away, glancing at Johnny and beginning to move in front of him just in case.

"How am I supposed to do that?!" Yosuke demanded as he began inching towards Johnny.

"I don't know! Give him a piggyback ride or something! He can't walk remember!?" With that in mind, Yosuke ran in front of Johnny and kneeled down, placing the paraplegic's arms on his shoulders and picking up a leg on each side. Grunting, Yosuke stood upwards.

That's when he and Chie began to run.

They both screamed while Johnny looked back, seeing the round creature disappear into the fog again. "We're losing it!"

"Good to know! Now let's make sure we _really_ lose it!" Chie shouted out as she and Yosuke continued running. In reality, she was just too scared to stop.

She was right. Something was in here with them! Something was here trying to kill them!

And Johnny depending on her to protect him was going to mean jack shit if that monster killed them when it found them…

* * *

**xxXXxx**

It had taken several minutes, but Yosuke and Chie with Johnny in tow had stopped running and were catching their breath in the room of some apartment complex. They had thought that the place would be a good hiding and rest stop. Carrying Johnny for that long took a lot out of Yosuke.

"I think we finally lost that weird thing…" Chie gasped out in exhaustion before looking at Johnny. "You okay?"

"…Yeah, I'm just fine." Johnny answered, looking at both Chie and Yosuke as they recovered. Why? Why would they make sure he survived too? If they were truly concerned about their safety, it would have been smarter just to leave him. It would have made their lives easier, and Johnny would have understood. He would have understood perfectly…

"Man, I so didn't want to die looking like that…" Yosuke whined out before opening his eyes and taking a step back in fear.

"What's wrong with…" Chie's question soon died in her mouth as she looked around as well, with Johnny joining her as they looked at their 'hideout'.

The room seemed like an ordinary one-bedroom suite, but the whole place was trashed. Several different posters were on the wall, for some play called 'Way of the Ballad' with the face of the main actress torn off. Everywhere else on the walls was doused with something red which Johnny highly doubted was paint thinner. And now, Johnny noticed the most morbid part of the room.

A chair, with a scarf tied as a noose hanging overhead, in the middle of the room.

"Oh man, this set-up is never good…" Yosuke muttered to himself, and Johnny could only nod in agreement.

"This is so creepy… I wanna go home…" Chie whimpered, and it looked like she was about to cry.

"Who the hell could have lived here?" Johnny muttered to himself. It looked like the hideout of some obsessive fan of whoever was in the play, but there had to be something more to it… something just seemed _sinister_ about the room.

"Oh man, I can't take it anymore!" Yosuke declared before running to one of the walls and unzipping his pants.

"Are you seriously going to take a piss here!?" Johnny could not help but shout, and that seemed to agitate Yosuke more.

"If I don't my bladder's going to burst!" Chie let an expression of disgust go onto her face. He was seriously doing this _now_!? "Ah damn it! I can't go here with you guys!" He zipped back up his pants, looking severely uncomfortable. "If I get a bladder infection, it's all your fault!"

"Who gives a damn about you needing to take a piss!" Chie shouted while stomping her foot. "I wanna find an exit! I want to go home… I don't feel so good…"

"Damn, now that you mention it I'm kinda feeling sick…" Yosuke agreed, and Johnny nodded. He felt like he had to hurl, and it was beginning to feel like his lungs were getting heavy…

"Let's just look around a bit more for an exit." Johnny suggested to the two. "Maybe we can find one if we go back to that place… Maybe that thing is gone now…"

"Y-Yeah, good call…" Chie agreed before turning to Yosuke. "Can you pick him up again? Johnny and I are the same height more or less, so…"

"Yeah, yeah." Yosuke told Chie before picking up Johnny again. "You know, you're pretty light for a guy…"

"You know you don't have to do this." Johnny muttered while looking to the side.

"Hey, I can't just leave you there. You need our help if we're all going to get out with this." Damn, that actually sounded pretty cool when Yosuke thought about it. Made him sound like a bit of a badass. Like a hero of this little adventure…

Johnny said nothing. _"So, they're doing this because they think… no they KNOW I'm helpless. I can't do anything on my own. I'm dead weight…"_

"WOAH!" Chie's shout snapped both boys out of their thoughts and Yosuke rushed outside and both he and Johnny saw Chie…

…standing in front of some weird bear mascot.

"What the hell is that?" Johnny breathed out the question going through the three teenagers' minds.

The mascot's eyes suddenly _blinked_ before it pointed at them and shouted in an angry high-pitched voice, "I could ask you three the very same thing!"

"I-It talked!" Chie shouted in shock, and echoed the next thing all three thought.

"Of course I can talk! I'm a bear!" The mascot shouted, miffed by the comment. "I've lived here since bear-ever!"

"Just what the hell are you really!?" Johnny demanded, glaring at the bear mascot. "Where are we?"

"Come on, keep your voice down!" The mascot shouted, suddenly very worried and frightened while looking from one direction to the other. "Go! Go back to your den quickly!"

"Our den?" Yosuke asked, his eyes narrowing. "What the hell are you talking about?! Give us some straight answers!"

Johnny then noticed that some of the fog was actually clearing, and he could not help but notice that the sky was colored red and had moving black lines across it. "The hell…?"

"Oh no! Oh no…!" The mascot shouted before reaching for something behind it. It then revealed a pair of white glasses, with red and blue stripes on each side. Johnny could not help but note that they seemed extremely stylish. "Here!" The mascot then placed the glasses in Johnny's right hand and then began to back away, its eyes darting from left to right. "Put those on and get out of here! The Shadows… The Shadows will…!"

"Shadows?" Chie asked, confused but also worried. Just what were these Shadow things, and why did the bear seemed so scared of them?

Johnny's eyes narrowed before he put on the glasses. Just why did the bear act like they would help? They just seem like a normal pair of… "Woah!" The remaining fog in the area was now cleared up completely!

"Dude, did you seriously put those things on?" Yosuke asked in disbelief while Johnny kept looking around. Everything was just so clear and…

_"What the hell is that?"_

Johnny noticed several black blobs forming on the walls, with blue frowning drama masks on them. Johnny could even hear a wail coming from them.

Whatever they were, they screamed of danger.

"We need to get out of here. NOW!" Johnny shouted out, causing Chie and Yosuke to look at him in confusion.

"Dude, what are you…"

"OH NOOO!" The mascot shouted before running away at near supersonic speeds, and Johnny earnestly wished that they could follow his example.

"Where is he…" Chie began before gasping in horror. "W-what the hell is that thing!?"

Johnny looked back at the creatures and saw that the blobs had dropped to the floor and were beginning to move towards them. They then stopped, and suddenly they transformed into pink balls with black stripes. They then turned around, and showed a mouth that had a long outstretched tongue and large white teeth that seemed to gleam with hunger.

"RUN!" Johnny shouted, snapping the two out of their trance. Both screamed in freight as they quickly ran past the creatures, which then began to follow them. Johnny was honestly scared too. He was fucking terrified. _"Just what the hell are these things!?"_ They were in no way normal! They screamed of so much wrong-ness that Johnny felt even more sick just by thinking of them. He then noticed that they were heading to a dead-end, but he also noticed a stairway to the right. "Go right!"

Chie didn't even think and just did what Johnny said. She ran to a stairway, and she jumped down before the railing and began running down the other flight of stairs. Yosuke tried to go down the steps as fast as he could…

…but carrying Johnny made it more difficult that in should be. Carrying additional weight caused Yosuke to trip, and fall down.

"SHIT!" Both Johnny and Yosuke shouted at the same time as they landed on the ground. Yosuke landed on the pavement, and Johnny hit his head hard on the railing.

"Gah! Damn it!" Yosuke cried out in pain as he held up his right hand, which had a big gash on it that spewed blood. "I cut my freaking hand!"

"Johnny!" Chie shouted as she ran back up the stairs and pulled Yosuke out of the way. She then began to reach out for Johnny, but he couldn't see her. He was still reeling from the trauma to his head. "Come on! Come to me! Hurry!"

Her voice was like a slur to Johnny. Everything was spinning to him. But luckily, his perception was fixing itself. He saw Chie, and he looked ahead and saw one of those monsters shooting towards him. _"I can't… I can't die here… not yet!"_ He then reached out to Chie. _"Not when I haven't found a reason...!"_

Johnny remembered when he could jump. It was exhilarating when he thought back on it. Jumping was almost like flying. He could go off the ground, and the wind would blow by his face as he landed back on the ground. It used to be insignificant to him, but it was like a fond memory now.

Johnny noticed that Chie was staring him with wide eyes as he was closing in on her, and it only took him a second to register why.

He had jumped to her.

He had fucking _jumped_ to her.

Johnny fell right before her, just in time for the monster to crash onto the railing and become dazed from the impact. Yosuke turned to Johnny and Chie, who were now just staring at each other in shock. "Come on! We need to go now!"

"They moved…" Johnny muttered to himself with wide eyes, as Yosuke quickly slung Johnny's left arm over his shoulder. Luckily, Yosuke's cut wasn't bleeding badly. And the adrenaline was dulling the pain of it. "How did they move…?"

"Oh crap, they're coming!" Yosuke shouted out before kicking Chie. "Come on you idiot! We need to go!"

Chie snapped out of her daze and nodded. She and Yosuke sped down the stairs as he held onto Johnny, who seemed to be catatonic now. She couldn't blame him. _"Just how did he move?"_ Johnny seemed as shocked as she was, showing that he wasn't just faking it and he didn't expect it either. But that was not important. They had to get out of this place! She spotted a door at the bottom floor to the right that had an exit sign on it. "Let's go here!" Chie shouted, and Yosuke just followed her direction. He opened the door, and Chie rushed past. Yosuke then brought him and Johnny through and slammed the door shut, and only hearing a few thuds from the monsters as they hit the door.

"Man, I think some of my years were shaved off…" Yosuke sighed out before looking to Johnny. "What's wrong with you?"

"They moved…" Johnny repeated as he looked down at his legs. He then gave the mental desire for the right foot to move, and it _did_. It moved a bit, and Johnny could _feel_ it! He then wanted the left leg to movie, and it went a bit to the side. "Oh Jesus… they're moving! I-I can feel them…!" Johnny felt tears come out of his eyes and roll down his cheeks. He could move his legs after two years of them not moving an inch. He could not believe this. Was he dreaming? Was he already dead? "Oh God…" Johnny sobbed out the last part, and that was enough to make the two teenagers momentarily forget their situation.

"Johnny…" Despite the situation, Chie could not help but feel overjoyed for Johnny. He was actually moving! But… _"How could that be? Just what is up with this place?"_

Yosuke then began looking around and said, "W-where are we now?"

Johnny looked up to see what Yosuke was talking about. They weren't anywhere that looked even remotely like a city. Instead, they were now standing on a track. The apartment they had just exited was still behind them, but before them was a dirt track that apparently went around in a circle, with a wooden fence creating a large circle which separated the track from the grass within the closed-off circle. In the distance was a large mansion that had several windows and a nice marbel porch. To the side was what looked like a small barn building.

"Woah…" Chie said out loud as she looked around. "Look at this place! How did we end up here?""

Johnny's eyes widened. He remembered this place! "What? T-this is…"

It was his home back in the States. His parents' place. How was it here?

**_"Ah, brings back memories doesn't it?"_ **

A distorted voice and a horse's whine caused all three of them to look to their left and notice a figure approaching them, riding on a horse.

**_"Course, those are memories you would like to keep down. Aren't they…"_ **

All three of the teenagers' eyes widened as the figure actually came into view.

It was another Johnny.

However, this Johnny had a disturbing smirk on his face, and his eyes were a sickly yellow. The 'horse' the copy was riding on was pitch-black, and had the same yellow eyes as the copy.

**_"…Me?"_ **

* * *

**< \--[To Be Continued |\|] **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of the things with the early few arcs of ADKoT is that I was still trying to figure out how I was going to handle Johnny in a modern setting and especially in a much less cynical setting like Persona 4. It usually helped to have Chie and Yosuke around so that I could have ordinary teens react to his character. The TV World was also a bit weird to write at first, but I like to think that I got the mortal terror regular people would feel to the place down right.


	3. Tusk Act 3

"W-what the hell?" Chie gasped, utterly frightened by what she was seeing. Another Johnny? How was that possible?

"Dude, what's going on?" Yosuke whispered to Johnny, who just stared at his copy in shock. Just what is this? Is this another trick from this place?"

"What are you?" Johnny asked, and his copy smirked before jumping off the horse, _standing_ beside it and staring at Johnny with sadistic glee on its face.

_**"I'm you, of course."**_ The copy answered with dark amusement. _**"And as such, I know everything about you! All your fears, all your thoughts, all your guilt, all your secrets… I know everything in such great detail."**_ It then began petting the 'horse', grinning while not taking his eyes off of Johnny. _ **"Like I know that you're only in this stupid fucking town because you didn't have the balls to blow your brains out back home!"**_

Johnny's eyes shot open in horror. How? _"How the hell does this thing know?"_

"Dude…"

Johnny's gasped and turned his head towards Yosuke and Chie, who were both staring at him with wide eyes.

"You… what's he saying?" Yosuke asked, gesturing to Johnny's doppelganger.

"Johnny did… did you try to kill yourself?" Chie asked in a small voice.

"N-No! I mean, I-"

_**"He sure did!"**_ The Johnny copy interrupted, sounding quite cheerful as he confessed to Johnny's attempt at such a horrible act. **"** _ **Of course, he never told anybody. Didn't want to have anyone's fake pity. Didn't want anyone to go out of their way to help him so they could brag that they "saved" him from himself! What a bunch of crap!"**_

The copy began circling the trio, grin widening as it stared directly at Johnny. The boy stared at his copy, who was walking on legs that weren't crippled before turning the copy's voice pulled his attention to its face.

_**"You don't want their sympathy, but your situation is so bad that you can't stop feeling sorry for yourself! Because you were such an idiot you lost your legs, and there were no more fans, no more awards, no more praise, and nobody gave a damn about you! You couldn't handle it anymore, so you raided your dad's gun drawer, put the thing in your mouth, and just sat in place like a fucking idiot before putting it down! God, you're such a pathetic loser!"**_ It then looked at both Yosuke and Chie. _**"Hell, I know you even hate having to be with these two!"**_

"Shut the fuck up!" Johnny shouted out, looking from side to side as Chie and Yosuke just started at the copy with shocked faces. How did this thing know so much? No, that didn't matter! It was revealing everything! He didn't want anyone to know this! It wasn't their right! It was his! His alone!

His shame alone…!

_**"You think they're like those assholes and bitches that you used to hang with, when really they are totally different! You knew that our 'old pals' were faking whatever friendship they had by just giving you blind praise. They just wanted to have the perks of being friends with someone famous! Hell, why else would those guys let you push them around and those chicks let you bone them? Soon as you lost your legs, they left you in the dust!"**_ The copy continued on as if never interrupted in the first place. Johnny's eyes were now showing its panic. It really knew everything! _ **"You're so afraid of being fooled again that you try to push everyone away, yet these two just keep trying to be friendly to you! It boggles your mind why they would even stick around you, when you've been nothing but a cynical little shit to them! And not just to them, but to everyone! You're such a paranoid asshole that your willing to blow any friendship or connection you can get just on the off chance you'll get hurt again. Whatever. I mean, it's not like you deserve any real friends anyway. Not when you act like such a jackass to everyone, before and after you lost everything."**_

Yosuke looked at Johnny, who now seemed utterly scared by all that was being revealed. _"That's why he acts like a jerk? He just doesn't want to have sucky friends anymore?"_

Yosuke knew how much it hurt for people to be taken advantage of and tossed aside when his use was fulfilled, but actually leading to believe that you care about them then taking it back? That was just horrible.

"I said shut up!" Johnny shouted frantically at the copy, scared out of his mind. Both Chie and Yosuke were looking at him with _pity_ in their eyes! "How can you know these things? Who the fuck are you!?"

_**"I told you, I am YOU!"**_ The copy replied, angry at the question. _**"I know that the only reason you came to this town, the only reason you came to this place, and the only reason you're living with your uncle is because you want to give a 'useless person' like yourself some sort of reason to keep on living!"**_

"Shut your goddamn mouth!" Johnny shouted, now shaking in both fear and anger. "That's not true! It's not!"

_**"But it is."**_ The copy then became deathly serious, stopping just before the horse and looking at Johnny with a blank expression. _**"I know this because I am you. I am your Shadow 'Jojo'. I know EVERYTHING about you."**_

_"A… Shadow?"_

Then that meant it really wasn't him. It was just one of those things that the mascot was worried about! It was just trying to psyche him out!

"Shut up you bastard! I know what you really are! And there is no way…"

Something in the back of his mind told him that it was true. Hell, that everything that the Shadow said was true, but he wouldn't listen. He would tell this thing off right now and get it off their backs!

"There is no way you're me, you freak!"

Chie and Yosuke watched as the Shadow became silent, and an oppressive air fill the area. "I-I think we should run…" Yosuke muttered to Chie, who dumbly nodded.

_**"Hehehe… Hahaha…!"**_ The Shadow began to chuckle before throwing its head back and erupting with joyous laughter. _**"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"**_ Black energy seemed to erupt from the very ground and envelop the Shadow Johnny and the horse together. It then sneered at the three, and especially at Johnny. _ **"You're goddamn right I'm not you! I'm my own self now! I'm not you…!"**_ The energy then completely covered the two beings, and the three teenagers were forced to turn away. _**"…NOT AT ALL!"**_

The energy then died down, and Johnny looked at the thing that stood in the Shadow's place in growing horror.

What was standing before them looked like a person riding a horse, but the two beings were nowhere near human. The horse looked like it was just bits and pieces of disjointed black armor in the shape of a horse, with spiked hooves and golden flames coming out of the eye sockets. It was big, lean, and despite nothing being inside the armor per-say, it looked powerful. On the sides of the 'horse's body were the engravings of a white mouse.

But the rider was the most monstrous part.

It was wearing a dark pink mask, but it had two white fangs coming from the bottom. It had a single rusted metal horn acting as a nose, and seemed had no real discernible features other than the eye sockets and the top edges extending about a foot above its head like a demon's horns. It was wearing what looked like a tattered black cloak, revealing a skeleton underneath that looked cracked and broken yet still held together by some unknown force. Over its right arm was what looked like a tattered American flag, acting like some sort of cape. On its back was what looked like a staff with red rust covering the blade at the end, and its hands which grasped the reigns of the horse were rusted metal claws. Not only that, but the bones that were supposed to be its legs were broken and splintered, disjointed at odd angles yet still somehow managed to rest firmly against the sides of the horse.

_**"I am a Shadow… The TRUE inner self!"**_ The transformed Shadow Johnny declared in near manic glee while the horse whinnied in agreement. _**"I'll give a reason why a useless person like you kept on living all right… and that was so you could last long enough so that I could kill you myself!"**_

"RUN!" Yosuke shouted as he began bolting to the house, with Chie following him. Who knew what that thing would do after it killed Johnny? It would probably go after them next!

"We gotta get to the mansion!" Chie screamed as the three began running to the house. "We gotta hide in there!"

"No way… That can't be me…" Johnny muttered to himself, his eyes dilating as the event replayed in his mind's eye over and over again. Everything felt muted to him. Ever since the Shadow transformed, everything seemed empty. All emotions other than denying that thing was him seemed as if they were shut down.

_**"Oh, I'm the only one who suffered! I'm the only one who had my brother die, I'm the one who has his father hate him, and right after that I got crippled! Woe is me!"**_ The Shadow mocked as it pointed to the retreating three. _**"The sad part is that you know deep down that is a load of crap! You're nothing but a self-centered brat! You know for sure that people suffer all around you, but you don't care since your troubles are**_ **so** _ **much more horrible! So disappear! LIGHTING OF DESPAIR!"**_ Clouds began to form over Johnny and Yosuke, but only Chie could see them.

"MOVE!"

"Huh?" Was all Yosuke could reply before Chie tackled him away from where he was standing and onto the ground, just as a massive bolt of red lightning rained down from the cloud and hit the area he was just on.

The ground became scorched and burned in an instant, and Yosuke could only stare in horror at the place. _"Oh crap, I almost just died…"_

_**"That's right! Run from your problems! Just like you ran from Danny!"**_ The Shadow shouted as it snapped the horse armor's reigns, making the thing begin to move forward. _**"That little white rat! You remember him! You ran away from the very thing you caused!"**_ It then pointed the spear again at the retreating three and shouted, _**"Winds of Tragedy!"**_

A mighty gust then rushed forward, and all three were swept off their feet. Chie and Yosuke screamed as they flew through the open door and landed hard on the floor inside the mansion. Johnny was beside Chie, still with his eyes closed in denial while Yosuke was closer to the door. Normally, they should have felt pain. However, the fear that Yosuke and Chie were experiencing dulled the pain and Johnny himself was too busy denying everything the Shadow was saying.

"Stop it!" Johnny cried out as Yosuke scrambled up and slammed the door shut. "Shut up! Shut up! Shutupshutupshutu-"

*SMACK*

A loud smack echoed through the mansion, and Johnny's left cheek now sported a red hand mark.

"Y-you stupid jerk!" Chie cried out, looking furiously at Johnny. "You acted like an ass because you didn't want to be hurt by other people? You really thought we were like that? You thought we would just ditch you whenever we felt like? Of all the stupid, idiotic… How can you even try to be like that? Alone!? How can you… How can you just try and give up on _life_!?"

"B-But that thing isn't…" Johnny feebly denied, only for Chie to shake her head.

"Don't lie to me! Even if that thing, even if it…!" Chie bit her lip as tears swam in her eyes. "…You just don't lie about something like that…!"

Johnny looked away, ashamed. He never wanted to reveal it. That he almost committed suicide before coming to Inaba. He was just so tired, so ashamed of everything. Of his life, of all the choices he made, of his current situation… everything. He thought it would have been easier just to give up. He created a suicide note for his mother and everything. But before he could pull the trigger, he thought that there must have been _something_ to make his life worth living. He didn't know what, but there had to be. That one hope was what made him put the gun down.

Yosuke decided to look back at the door. Why hadn't that monster try to ram itself through yet? "Listen, I don't mean to interrupt, but we gotta hide."

"R-Right…" Chie muttered before looking around. She spotted a living room with a massive TV over a fireplace, a kitchen, a dining area, and a stairway. "Let's go…"

_**"You couldn't leave Danny in his cage. You felt sorry for him…"**_ The Shadow's voice echoed throughout the mansion, and the three looked around frantically for the origin. _**"But when you tried to feed him table scraps, dad found out and wanted you to drown him as punishment."**_

"Is this thing in control of the mansion too?" Yosuke asked as he began slowly inching to the living room. "Was this all a trap?"

"Don't ask me!" Chie replied in a scared voice as she followed Yosuke's lead.

_**"You couldn't do it. You didn't want to hurt Danny. But that's when your big brother, the oh-so perfect Nicholas, got the idea to release him to the wild and present Dad with a fake corpse!"**_ The Shadow continued, and the three could hear the phantom clacks of the horse's metal hooves on the ground. _**"You were so happy! Danny could live and it was all thanks to your big brother!"**_

Suddenly, the TV turned on in the living room, causing Chie and Yosuke to jump before a pictured formed. It showed two boys, one taller than the other, with matching stripped sleeping clothes. The shortest one had blonde hair and blue eyes, and looked mostly unsure of himself. The taller one had wavy black hair and dark brown eyes that somehow conveyed kindness.

Johnny could instantly recognize who it was. "Nicholas…"

Chie and Yosuke looked back at Johnny, and saw him to just be staring at the picture. Was this… his brother?

_"You're so good at everything Nicholas_." The voice of the young child, which Yosuke and Chie presumed was Johnny, said to the older dark-haired boy. _"Maybe I'm not your real brother? We don't even look alike…"_

Nicholas placed is hand on top of the the younger Johnny and smiled, an expression of pure and honest brotherly love. _"Listen Johnny… you're still young. No matter what dad says, even he was impressed by when you first rode a horse. You know that and so do I. But you still need some practice. When you get older, I'll teach you how to ride for real. We'll ride around the world together, and help each other out when things get tough. No matter what, I'll always be here for you. That's a promise."_

Johnny didn't bother trying to hold back his tears anymore. He remembered that day. He promised with Nicholas they would always stick together. To support one another. But…

Yosuke watched the 'channel' change to show the track where they were just before, but on a clear day. This time, the seven-year old Johnny was watching from behind the fence as Nicholas rode on top of a black horse. Then, all of a sudden, the horse jumped up, and Nicholas fell down on the ground with a mighty crash as the horse kept on running.

_"What…?"_ The young Johnny asked in shock while the adults raced to his brother.

_"What happened!?"_

_"The horse got scared! I-I think I saw a white mouse run past it!"_

_"Wait, white mouse… Does that mean it was Johnny's old pet mouse?"_ Chie thought in horror as she looked at Johnny, who was now trembling.

_"Oh Jesus, he's not breathing!"_

_"Someone get a doctor!"_

_"NICHOLAS!"_

_**"That's right, you knew that Danny came back! And because of that Nicholas died! It was all your fault that your big brother was dead!"**_ The Shadow shouted from somewhere within the house. It still wouldn't reveal itself, and Chie held Johnny close while Yosuke began frantically looking around for something to fight with. _**"But that's not all! You have so many more secrets and shames! Take a look at this little tidbit!"**_

The screen then changed, and this time showed a much taller and older Johnny. A caption at the bottom stated 'Johnny Joestar, Age 14'. The younger Johnny then opened a room, and inside was a made bed and a dresser. On top of that were several awards, and a picture of Nicholas smiling at the camera.

Johnny remembered that day. He had accidentally broken his riding boots at the bottom, and needed a new pair. He decided the only pair immediately available for him to use for practice was in Nicholas' room. Johnny planned on taking good care of the shoes, and clean them before return them after practice, and then immediately buy a new pair for himself. He meant no harm to his big brother, but he needed something to wear for practice.

The younger Johnny muttered a quick 'sorry' to the picture before going into the closet and picking up a pair of black riding boots. One of Nicholas' many pairs of boots their father gave him.

_"What are you doing Jonathan?"_ Johnny then turned around to see an older blonde-haired gentleman with a mustache, and a black-haired asian woman wearing a red dress behind him. Jonathan's father and mother.

_"Oh! You're back dad!"_ Johnny declared in surprise. _"I thought you and mom were going out today…"_

George Joestar would have none of that. _"Explain yourself."_

_"Oh, well the bottoms of my boots fell off, so I thought I could borrow these for practice today. I think the quality is bad…"_ Johnny feebly explained to his father, who just stared coldly at the boy.

_"I see, but those are Nicholas' boots. So return those to his closet."_

_"I know that, but I don't have a pair of spare boots. My feet are around Nicholas' size, so I thought I could…"_ Johnny now looked uncomfortable, now shrinking under his father's glare as the man stepped forward.

_"Perhaps it is your fault that your boots are ruined because you weren't taking care of them properly."_

A fire seemed to light in Johnny's eyes, and he once again tried to state his case. _"I said I know that! But… I have practice today, for the tournament later this week. I promise that I'll win."_

George raised an eyebrow at that statement. _"Win? That's strange. Winning means you'll be number one. But that British boy won't be competing, and you have never been able to beat him. Nicholas… he was far superior to that British punk…"_

Orihime Joestar looked worriedly at her husband. He had been like this ever since Nicholas had died. She had grieved just as much as he and Johnny did, and moved on with Johnny. But George always seemed stuck in the past. _"George, please…"_

Johnny clutched the boots even harder in his hands as his father drew closer. _"Dad, just let me borrow Nicholas' boots this one time. I'll put them back after practice and get a new pair."_

_"No! You have no right to Nicholas' things!"_ George then grabbed the boots in Johnny's hands, but the young man wouldn't let them go. If anything he just clutched them even harder.

It now looked like Johnny was about to burst into tears. _"What? W-What is it dad? You're always talking about Nicholas this and Nicholas that… My brother died seven years ago! Please, just let me use these boots! I'm practicing hard! Just come to my race for once…! I'll win it for you!"_

_"I said put back Nicholas' boots in the closet Jonathan!"_ George ordered as he placed his hand on Johnny's shoulder and attempted to yank the boots off, but Johnny just pulled back.

Orihime was now becoming frantic. She then began pulling on George's arm in a feeble attempt to stop her husband. _"George, stop! You're going to hurt him!"_

_"NO! These are old boots! They're just old things, they aren't my brother's anymore! They are not Nicholas'! He's dead! He's been dead for so long…!"_ Johnny now had some tears out of the corner of his eyes. He was looking at Nicholas' picture, and felt slightly ashamed about making a stand here about this of all places.

_"You spoiled brat! How dare you disrespect your brother!"_ George roared out as the tug of war commenced between the two.

_"Jonathan! George! Stop this at once! Stop doing this in Nicholas' own room!"_ Orihime tried to yell in order to stop the two men, but it was for naught. The two seemed to be in their own little world.

_"I won't!"_

_"Let go of them!"_

_"No!"_

_"You…!"_

_"GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME!"_ Johnny then actually let go of the boots with his left hand and pushed his father hard in the abdomen. The shock was so great that George stumbled back and let go of the boots…

…only to land on the mirror behind him.

A glass shard fell and sliced a gash along the right side of George's neck, causing blood to spew out. _"Gahk!"_

_"GEORGE!"_ Orihime was instantly on her husband's side, getting his hands and placing them on the wound before applying pressure on them.

_"Oh God, Dad!"_ Johnny was about to rush to his father, to come to his aid or something. But what George said next stopped him in his tracks.

_"Oh… why…"_ George muttered as he pressed his hand against the wound in order to try and stop the bleeding. _"God… why did you take… the wrong son?"_

The whole room went silent, as did Yosuke and Chie.

"No way, did he actually say…?" Chie whispered as she looked at Johnny, who was now trying to cover his ears and shaking his head. Was this really what Johnny went through with his parents? Did his father really say he should have died instead of his older brother?

"What kind of father says that to his own kid?" Yosuke spat in disgust, glaring at the TV. This was just sick and wrong on so many levels! No normal parent would say something like that!

_"…What? Dad… what did you just say…?"_ Johnny seemed to equally be in shock, and was shaking as he stared at his father.

Orihime didn't seem to want to believe it either. She just stared at her husband in horror and reached out her hand to him. _"George, you didn't just say…"_

_"Get… out…"_ George gasped out, still clutching the bleeding wound and tears falling from his eyes. Tears came out of Johnny's eyes, but this time, his fists clenched and his eyes burned of utter hatred. He threw the boots on the ground and ran out the room. He went down the stairs and swung the front door open, only staying to shout one thing.

_"I HATE YOU!"_

This was just too painful to watch. Chie could see that Johnny was coming apart from all these reveals and revisited memories. "HEY! Stop this!" Chie shouted out loud. "If you want to come and get us, just do it already!"

"Chie! Shut up!" Yosuke frantically shouted as he sat Johnny down on the floor, who now seemed to be just a sobbing mess now. _"Oh man, if this keeps up there's no way we'll be able to move him!"_

_**"All in good time, but there's one last thing you just GOT to see to believe!"**_ The Shadow replied in sadistic amusement. _**"After all, this is the highlight of the reel! His crowning achievement! Ladies and gentlemen, let's see how Johnathan "Johnny" Joestar got crippled!"**_

Yosuke wouldn't admit it out loud, but he had been kind of curious. But from what his memories stated, Johnny rode horses a lot. He was probably a jockey or something. Surely he lost his legs in a horse-related accident… right?

The TV 'channel' switched again, this time to show Johnny with an angry expression on his face with an arm of some extremely tan and big-breasted girl two years his senior walking in the city at night.

Johnny definitely remembered this night. It was the night of the day he had the incident with his father. He blew practice and called up a girl who he had recently got a number from for a 'date'. Well, it was more like him just trying to stay away from his house as long as possible. He had been originally planning to go to someplace and blow some steam off with her, but…

_"Hey, isn't that the new club they just opened?"_ The girl asked, making Johnny look to see some night club. _"Come on, let's go!"_

_"You're kidding me right? The line goes from there to the end of the block!"_ Johnny protested, looking at the line. _"Besides, you know the law! We're minors! We couldn't go in even if we wanted to!"_

_"WHAAT!?"_ The girl shrieked out in astonishment before looking at Johnny with puppy dog eyes. _"But I want to go! It's super in right now, and all my older friends are talking about it!"_

_"Still, we can't go in. Besides, it's probably not worth it to wait in line."_ Johnny muttered, only for the girl to look at him with a confused expression on his face.

_"But you're famous aren't you? You're Johnny Joestar."_

Johnny just stood there, looking unsure but still determined. He even gave a confident nod.

_"Let's just grab that empty spot in the front."_ The girl said, pointing to a spot big enough to fit two people in. _"We'll just say it was open."_

The two then slipped on in front, and hardly anyone noticed them… except for the person they just cut in front of. It was a short man with blonde hair, and had sort of a crazy look in his eye but still seemed nervous.

The person tapped Johnny's shoulder, making him turn. _"E-Excuse me? The back of the line is over there…"_

_"Oh yeah?"_ Johnny asked, not showing any interest in the person. He then turned back to the girl and began making some small talk with her.

The person tapped his shoulder again, and Johnny turned with an even more annoyed expression on his face. _"T-The line is back there! I've been waiting here for hours on end!"_

_"Look man!"_ Johnny then grabbed the person's shirt and lifted him. _"I'm in a really foul fucking mood today, so listen good! I just bought this spot now. You wanna ask somebody? Ask the bouncers!"_

Chie could not believe was she was seeing. Johnny was a bully? One who just took what he wanted from people just because he was famous? That honestly made Chie a little sick. She hated people like that with a passion!

_"So, he let his fame get to his head huh…?"_ Yosuke asked himself as he looked at Johnny, who now seemed to be slinking even more into depression. He supposed it made sense. Yosuke had no idea what he would do if he suddenly became famous. But still…

_"Hey guys! I just bought this spot right?"_ Johnny asked to the bouncer that was closest to him, waving several hundred dollar bills at the bouncer. _"This guy wants to start something, so throw him out!"_

Surprisingly, the bouncer did just that. He took the money and began dragging the person away despite his protests. Johnny himself sighed as he fixed his hair. He then looked at his date and muttered out, _"This better be worth it…"_

_"Oh, don't worry. I'll show my appreciation later!"_ The girl replied happily to Johnny, who looked away in response.

Then, Johnny saw the same person run up to him and knock against his back. Johnny glared at the person, who was now looking both scared and shocked. _"YOU AGAIN!? You're a persistent guy aren't yo-!?"_

Johnny then noticed the object that the guy was holding in his hands, and the look of horror spreading across his date's face.

It was a gun with a smoking barrel. He then looked at the path it was aimed at, and saw a gaping hole in the left side of his back, angled towards his spine.

He looked at his right hand and saw blood on it.

_"You…"_ Johnny looked at the person, who was now trembling while dropping the gun. _"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO!?"_

Johnny then collapsed onto the ground, as the pain began to make him black out he heard his date's scream and saw the bouncers tackle the guy who shot him to the ground.

Chie had no words to describe what she felt about this. While she was all for bullies getting what they deserved, this was just sickening to watch. Did she really just see how Johnny got crippled? She wouldn't wish that on anyone! Maybe a punch or a kick to the face or the nads, but crippling someone? It was too much!

Yosuke was also sickened by what he saw. It was just painful to watch. Was this what made a person like Johnny? Just one tragedy after the other? And what? It all lead up to this?

Johnny let out another sob. He didn't want to see this! He didn't want to live through this again!

The screen then changed to show Johnny opening his eyes in a hospital bed.. He could not move his head, due to there being a neck brace. He was stripped of all his clothes, and bandages were wrapped around his midsection. Worse of all, an adult diaper was on him.

_"Nurse, nurse!"_ Johnny rasped out, his eyes showing both freight and horror. _"Someone, please help me! It reeks! It stinks! I-I…"_ Johnny's eyes then filled with tears. _"I can't feel my legs… Oh God I can't feel my legs! Help! Please!"_ Sobs then came out of Johnny as he laid in the hospital room alone. _"Someone…. please help me… I-I think I soiled myself…"_

_**"But nobody came did they? Not your dad, not your 'friends', not your 'girlfriend'… nobody. Sure your mom came, but you could tell that she wanted to be anywhere other than there!"**_ The Shadow's voice shouted before a crash was heard, and the Shadow creature burst through the front door. _ **"They knew that the reason you were like this now was all your own fault! Nobody wants to visit a loser who got crippled just to impress some girl! And you know it too!"**_

The horse then whinnied before trampling towards the direction of Johnny. With the blunt side of its staff, it whacked Chie to the other side of the room. She cried out in pain as her body slammed onto the wall before falling to the ground.

"Oh shit! Chie!" Yosuke shouted out before looking back at the Shadow, who towered before him and Johnny. He had to think of something quick. He had to find something to stop this thing, even for a second! "Ah, dammit!" Yosuke then ran away to the the direction of the kitchen area, leaving Johnny alone.

Chie's vision was hazy, she hurt all over. What was going on? _"I-I was just hit right?"_ She just saw Yosuke run. _"Yosuke? Where are you going? Come back…"_ He couldn't have just left them right? Left them to die…

Johnny didn't even care that Yosuke ran away. Nothing seemed to matter anymore. He was going to die here, but this time two people who never had anything to do with this would die because of him. Just like Nicholas died because of him…

_**"You feel so sorry for yourself don't you? Everything is your fault!"**_ The Shadow said as it then used the blade of its staff to lift Johnny by his school jacket to eye level. _**"After that day, you decided to never trust anyone ever again! That you would be fine on your own! Well, that suits me just fine. I'll be just fine by myself, and after I'm done with you I'll take care of those other little shits too!"**_

That comment, for some reason, seemed to light a fire in Johnny's eyes. He stopped grieving for himself if only for just a second, and could only look at the helpless Chie. No! He could not let her die like this! Or Yosuke! Plus, what the hell would he die for? Because he was stupid enough to touch the TV? "L-Leave them alone! You want to kill me don't you? Then just do that and let them go!"

The Shadow's yellow irises then seemed to widen, as if momentarily surprised by the action before letting out a cruel distorted chuckle. _**"Aw, ain't that cute? The petty former jockey is trying to stick up for some losers he just met! Makes you feel like your death will mean something, right?"**_ Johnny's eyes widened in horror. _**"Well, it won't mean shit! You were a nobody from the very beginning and you'll di-"**_

"HHAAAAHH!" Yosuke then suddenly jumped behind the Shadow and slammed a wooden chair on its back. The thing broke into several pieces, and it startled the Shadow enough to release its hold of Johnny.

He had run to get some sort of object to hit the Shadow with. Nothing in the kitchen like knives would mortally wound it, stabbing it would probably piss the Shadow off. So he just grabbed a chair and decided to hit the creature with it, hopefully to cause some sufficient blunt force trauma.

_**"You annoying punk!"**_ The Shadow's left hand then shot out and grabbed Yosuke by the neck, choking him as it lifted the young man. _**"Why are you even bothering with his ass? He's nothing but a self-pitying asshole! He hates you! The smart thing to do would be just running with the girl!"**_

"F-Forget it!" Yosuke struggled out, glaring at the Shadow. If he was going to die, might as well go out sounding like a hero. "L-Like we could leave someone to die alone!"

_"Yosuke…"_ Johnny thought to himself as he looked at the teenager. Time seemed to slow down to him. _"You… and Chie…"_ He looked at the girl on the floor. They were staying by his side, they were defending him! Not because they felt sorry for him. Not because they thought they would get something out of it. They just wouldn't leave him to die, just like any other person. _"To think… I was trying so hard to push them away…"_

Taking a deep breath, Johnny looked straight at the Shadow and said…

"…You're right."

The Shadow then stopped, dropped Yosuke and seemed to stare at Johnny in shock. _**"What? What did you just say?"**_

Chie's eyes fluttered open as she saw Johnny now looking somber at the still Shadow. Yosuke was also clutching his throat, coughing while staring at the scene. _"What's Johnny doing?"_

"You're right. I am a cynical, self-pitying, self-centered asshole. I haven't been able to enjoy a day in my life since I lost my legs, and the only reason why I lost them was because I just wanted to prove myself to _someone_ , _anyone._ Hell, I didn't even want to go to that damn club." Johnny gave a cold chuckle to himself. "Man, I almost just gave up on life just because I thought it wasn't worth living anymore. Pretty stupid huh?"

_**"GHHAAAHHH!"**_ The Shadow screamed in pain, its hands now clutching its head. _**"You son of a bitch! You think accepting some flaws now is going to do anything!? I'll kill you! Just…"**_ It then grabbed its staff and brought it down on Johnny, the rusted blade making a screech as it cut through the air. _**"…DIE!"**_

"I still think that Nicholas' death was my fault!" That comment cause the blade to shatter into nothing right before it stabbed him. The Shadow fell off the horse as it rose up, the animal fading away into nothing as the Shadow struggled. Johnny just continued speaking. "I still blame myself, when it all could have been just an unfortunate coincidence! And some days, I really do think that… I should have died instead of Nicholas. I miss him. I miss him so goddamn much, and I even miss my father and mother!"

_**"GYAAAAHHHH!"**_ The Shadow then seemed to distort, as if it were static on a TV. _**"Shut up!"**_

"I push people away because I'm scared, because I don't want to be hurt again by false friendships. I came to this town only to find a reason to keep on living…"

_**"DAMN YOU!"**_ The static was now becoming worse, and the Shadow was even shaking its head in pain. _**"You're just going to accept me now of all times!?"**_

"You are a part of me, the part I try to keep bottled in my head. The part of me that I always use as an excuse to be alone and feel sorry for myself." Johnny admitted. Unconsciously, he used a chair that was to his left and lifted himself up. His legs shook from disuse, and they even hurt as Johnny shakily stood. "It hurts like hell to actually face you. But the fact of the matter is, I acknowledge your existence."

_**"RAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"**_ The Shadow let out one final screech before its body dissipated into a blue light, and it revealed the Shadow Johnny in its human form once more. This time however, it's face was blank. And its yellow eyes looking at Johnny with what seemed like anticipation.

"Whether I like it or not… You're me. And I am you." Johnny did not know why he said that part, the words just seemed to flow out of his mouth.

But that did not matter. The Shadow Johnny seemed to smile in relief and nod in acceptance. Then it disappeared, and in its place was another form. It was … small to say the least. Around three feet tall to be precise. It looked a bit like a miniature pink-colored elephant with several yellow stars littering its back and a big yellow star on its forehead, with a strange silver antenna-like device coming out of the center of its forehead and reaching its nose. The nose itself was a sharp metal spike that seemed bolted on the being's face, and the eyes were a beady purple which seemed to convey a sort of sadness. It had eight tentacle-like limbs on its head. Two on the top of its head, one on each side of its head underneath its two long floppy ears, one on each side of its cheek, and one on each side of its chin. Its arms were short and stubby, and its hands had four fingers on them arranged to look like a star. On the bottom was a single tail, and on each side were two more slender tails, which each had what appeared to be a heart-shaped fruit at the end.

For some reason, Johnny felt like he was familiar with the entity. As if it were an old friend that he had just met once again. Once that thought finished, the figure disappeared and it was replaced by a card that had a black figure of a man carrying a bundle-stick as it stepped off a box, with a dog following behind it. On the bottom of the card was the number 0. The card then dissipated, and flickers of blue light disappeared into Johnny.

For some reason, he felt at ease. Johnny felt better than he had for years. He even smiled a bit before he turned to Yosuke and asked softly, "You okay?"

Yosuke could not help but blink at the question. Johnny just defeated a monster and was asking if he was okay? _"Man, I would have wanted to pass out…"_ Still, Yosuke could not help but feel jealous of Johnny. He defeated the monster and saved both him and Chie… "OH CRAP! CHIE!" Yosuke scrambled to the still downed form of the girl and lifted her. She was still breathing, and now clutching her head.

Johnny was about to go to, but just as he tried to move his legs they buckled and he fell to the ground on his knees. Figured, he hadn't walked for years. Instead, he began crawling to Yosuke and Chie.

Chie moaned in pain before her eyes fluttered open to see both Yosuke and Johnny looking down on her. Her body felt sore all over, but she could still feel everything. "W-what happened?"

"Well, Johnny beat the monster… Shadow… thing." Yosuke replied with a smile of relief.

"All I did was talk it down." Johnny refuted, giving Yosuke a small smile. "Too bad we didn't have a camera. Seeing you slam a chair into the back of all my pent up fears and issues is the highlight of my year."

"Oh, well, ah… no problem." Yosuke gave an embarrassed chuckle before helping Chie up. "Point is, we're still alive."

"Yeah… sorry you guys went through all that because of me." Johnny said, looking away in shame. He was going to say more, but Chie slapping him once again cut off whatever he was about to say. "Ow! Chie, what the-!"

"That's for all the crap you did before you lost your legs, and for trying to give up on everything." Chie explained before letting out a sigh of relief. "But… I'm glad you're safe."

Still… it wasn't fair. A part of Chie angry that she hadn't done more. She hadn't done anything to help Johnny, and in the end he'd saved her. Yosuke too. She should have been the one to save him…

"You guys have no idea how much it sucks to face yourself…" Johnny muttered as he shook his head. Hell, he was still hurting inside. But still, he accepted his other half, and acknowledged all his faults and fears. That counted for something. "I'm just glad you came off with only a couple bruises Chie."

Yosuke looked glanced at Chie, and could not help but agree. From what he saw, he expected Chie to be seriously hurt. But it just looked like she had some scuffs and bruises all over her body. "Are physics wacky in this place or something?"

"Who knows? Let's just try and find an exit and…" Johnny could not finish his sentence, as three of the monsters _"Shadows?"_ suddenly flew into the mansion and hovered over them.

"Oh, come _on!_ Them again!?" Yosuke shouted out as he still held onto Chie. They were in no condition to run! Each of them were too exhausted and too injured to do anything that strenuous!

"You don't think they're here to finish us off do you?" Chie asked, her eyes darting to all three creatures.

Johnny clicked his tongue and glared at the Shadows. He just defeated his other self, and now these things were circling around them like vultures! How was he going to get them out of this? How would they even hope to leave? What was there to…?

_**I am thou… Thou art I…** _

"What the…" Johnny asked before his eyes glazed over. It was that voice again! What was it doing now?

He saw several visions. One was two unearthly occupants in a blue velvet car. Another was a girl with short dark hair wearing a blue cap. Another was six unidentifiable figures with their backs turned, yet somehow Johnny felt a connection to them. And finally, he saw a girl with auburn hair tied into a high ponytail with red eyes and wearing a school uniform he did not recognize, giving him a small smile despite having chains on her wrists.

_**You have accepted me, and the time to show the power you have within… is NOW!** _

Unconsciously, Johnny raised his right hand from his kneeling position, and the card appeared to be floating on it. It was engulfed in a blue flame, yet Johnny felt no heat from it.

Yosuke and Chie gaped as Johnny was erupting in blue energy.

The image of the girl appeared in his mind's eye again, and she smiled as she opened her mouth. As she did that, Johnny felt his mouth mimic her.

_"Per…"_

The Shadows paused in fear, unsure of what to do as they focused on Johnny.

_"…so…"_

Yosuke honestly had no idea what was going on anymore. First Johnny beat the monster, and now he was getting some sort of crazy power with it? "Is this really happening?"

_"…na!"_

Chie could not help but gape as Johnny crushed the card, and the sound of breaking glass was heard. Suddenly, an entity she had never seen before appeared behind Johnny, hovering above the American. _"W-what the heck is that!?"_

A confident smirk then grew on Johnny's face, and the glasses he was wearing reflected the blue light coming from the energy surrounding him. He felt… good. No, more than good. Powerful! Like he could do anything!

The Shadows did not waste another second, as one soon came barreling at Johnny. Johnny raised his right arm, his hand clenched into a fist, and punched forward. The Persona then shot forward at fairly impressive speeds, hitting the Shadow underneath and stabbing through it with its nose. The Shadow disappeared in a burst of dark energy, completely and utterly destroyed.

"Holy crap!" Chie repeated out loud while Yosuke just watched what went before them in mute awe.

_"These things… they're nothing to me!"_ Johnny thought to himself with confidence before he grunted in pain and was thrown to the side. He saw that the Persona was knocked to the side by one of the Shadows. Seemed like if it got hurt, so did he.

"NIII!" The Persona gave off a high-pitched squeak of pain as it attempted to right itself. Johnny himself fell on his side, skidding across the floor. Some wooden shards from his Shadow and the chair Yosuke broke over it were still on the floor, cutting through his uniform and cutting some of his skin underneath before stopping ten feet away.

"Johnny!" Chie screamed out and was about to rush to the young man, but Yosuke held her shoulder. "Yosuke, why are you…?"

"You bastard!" Johnny shouted in anger before he pushed himself back up on his knees, ignoring the pain he was in while the Persona shook its head and shot forward. It then stabbed the Shadow right through the center, twisting its body clockwise at high speeds to form a makeshift drill. The Shadow seemed to screech in pain before it disappeared just like the first one.

The other Shadow then began to turn around and flee. "Where the hell do you think you're going?" Johnny shouted out as he raised his right arm, with his left hand placed over it while his right index finger pointed at the Shadow as if aiming for it. A cyclone appeared in his mind's eye, and Johnny shouted, "Eat this!"

The Persona seemed to glare at the Shadow with its eyes, and raised its left arm and pointed out at the retreating Shadow. Suddenly, a mini cyclone appeared underneath the Shadow, shooting upwards and knocking it hard onto the ceiling. It screeched in pain before it disappeared in a dark mist, just like its brethren.

Johnny breathed in and out with a smirk on his face as his left hand lowered to his hip, but his right hand was still pointing at the place where he destroyed the Shadow, as if he were posing. He didn't know why he was doing that either, it just felt right. His Persona disappeared after that, becoming blue energy that disappeared into Johnny once more.

"Dude… Just what the hell was that?" Yosuke was the first to find his voice, while Chie still stared, amazed at what she just saw.

Johnny remembered the name he had muttered out. "Persona…"

"Persona?" Chie blurted out in confusion, while Johnny's smirk just turned into a small smile.

"It's a part of me… and I'm a part of it. I think that's how it's supposed to go." Johnny replied, lovering his hand before looking at its palm.

He had come to Inaba originally to try and find a reason to keep on living.

One could say that he just found that reason.

"You were freaking awesome!" Chie shouted out before covering her mouth. Johnny turned to her and gave a smile.

"Yeah… I sure was wasn't I?"

Still… Johnny was sure that they were not out of danger just yet.

Something told him that there was more to this place than what it appeared as.

* * *

**< \--[To Be Continued |\|]**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be honest, the first three Shadow Fights were pretty much me trying to figure out what the hell I am going to do with these battle scenes. I thought about translating the Persona and Shadow abilities/powers into JoJo and make it similar to what was used in Phantom Blood/Battle Tendency...but as you see, that didn't exactly work out that well. As for the mention of Johnny's suicide attempt, it seemed like a semi-rational thing someone with Johnny's low self esteem and such would actually consider. Especially in the modern day when such things have become a horrible norm. But as the fic goes on, Johnny does improve as a character which I am proud of handling somewhat well.


	4. Fall Out Boy Part 1

"Tch!" Johnny clicked his tongue in pain as Yosuke helped him get out the several splinters of wood still lodged into his left arm. While there were no big pieces there, or any cuts of major arteries, it still hurt. "Never liked splinters… stings like a bitch when they get pulled out."

"You're lucky that your arm isn't torn up man." Yosuke muttered as he pulled out the last bloody splinter from Johnny's arm and wiped his now blood-stained hands on the couch Chie was leaning on while sitting down. The area around her abdomen where Johnny's shadow had struck her was still sore, but she said the pain was fading a bit. Johnny's cuts however were bleeding quite a bit. Several cuts lined Johnny's arm, but they were just dots of blood that were quickly closing up. _"How is he not being completely freaked out by all this?"_ Yosuke could not help but be jealous with Johnny and Chie's ability to stand the pain they endured. His neck was still sore from being choked by the 'Shadow Johnny' monster. _"Was that thing really his inner most fears and issues? And he just beat it by saying he accepted them?"_ It was like something from an anime. It sounded extremely cheesy, but Yosuke saw it happen before his very eyes. _"How come he could beat it by just saying it was him or something, and I couldn't do a damn thing? What does he have that I…?"_

Was he that useless? Was it just that he was unprepared, and if they were more ready for this world even he could have beaten that Shadow thing? The world was dangerous, but still…

"Yeah, I sure do feel lucky." Johnny quipped while rubbing his arm. "If this place works the same as my old house, there should be a first-aid kit under the kitchen sink. Just bring the bandages if you find it, I don't want to find out what they have in the chemicals bottles."

"Gotcha." Yosuke gave a nod, silently glad that he had something else to focus on for the moment. He went past Chie and headed to the kitchen area he passed by when searching for weapons, leaving both her and Johnny alone.

"Was everything it was saying really true?" That was the only thing Chie could ask Johnny.

Johnny turned his head to the side. He didn't know how to answer that, and a part of him didn't really want to. _"But… didn''t all this start because I wouldn't acknowledge it?"_ "Yeah, it was."

"So even…" Chie didn't finish the sentence. It was still uncomfortable to think about. But still, it was too serious not to address. "Even that you tried to… kill yourself?"

Johnny sighed a bit. "Yeah, that too."

"Why would you even want to do that?" Chie asked, glaring at Johnny. "E-Even if you're like this, there was no reason to…!"

"I was just at the bottom of my rope." Johnny interrupted her, looking to the ground. "I lost my legs just trying to have someone, even if it was just a stupid girl who wanted to brag to her friends about me later, acknowledge me. To not throw me to the side like my dad. And he funny thing is that in the end, it was all for nothing. Losing my legs was my fault. I blamed myself for my big brother's death, and I knew my dad couldn't stand the sight of me." Johnny gave another sigh, looking at his injured arm. "I was so ashamed of everything. Of the choices I made, of all my faults, and losing the ability that seemed to give me some type of worth in this world. So I guess… I just didn't want to live in a world I had no place in anymore."

A small rock was then chucked by Chie at Johnny's head, bouncing off it and causing the young man to click his tongue and rub his head in pain.

"That's a load of crap!" Chie exclaimed, getting up from her seated position. "Even if all that happened to you that's no reason to give up on everything! There are plenty of things worth living for, and not everyone is like those jerks you used to hang out with!"

"I know that now alright?!" Johnny shouted back before his expression turned soft. "But, thanks anyways."

"Still, I don't like how you used to be." Chie muttered, looking at him with an even harsher glare. "How could you just push people around? Just because you were famous doesn't give you an excuse!"

"No, it really doesn't." Johnny admitted with a nod. "When I was crippled, I had a lot of time to think about things. Being famous was part of the reason why I pushed people around. Another was that no-one would call me out for it. They just encouraged me to do whatever I was doing. I'm not using it as an excuse, 'cause I know in the end it was me doing it. I'm not that proud of it anymore. Just another part of my life that I don't like."

Chie, despite her own conflicting emotions, could tell Johnny's confession was genuine. _"He really does regret it all."_ Chie then looked to the spot where Shadow Johnny once was. The hoof marks of the horse armor were still there, imprinted on the ground from its weight. _"Does confronting something like that thing really change a person?"_ Still, it was good to see Johnny regretted all the crap he used to do. So that earned him some points in her book. _"And after all he went through… he could use someone like me to be around."_

"Don't worry about it man." Yosuke's voice came out, and the two turned to see Yosuke with a roll of bandages in his hands. He even saw some bandages now wrapped around the hand Yosuke cut during their escape. "We aren't like those guys you used to hang out with." He then went to Johnny and kneeled by him, beginning to wrap the bandages on Johnny's arm. "Look, if you need someone to talk to about your personal crap, just come to me." He then flashed Johnny a grin. "I'll help you out, and Chie probably will too. Stuff like that shouldn't just be bottled up."

_"Like your one to talk…"_ A venomous part of Yosuke's mind thought, but it was gone as soon as it appeared.

"Well, thanks for the offer…" Johnny muttered in appreciation as he scratched the back of his neck with his uninjured arm. "But would you mind hurrying up with those bandages?"

"Oh! Right!" Yosuke then fumbled a bit as he rolled the bandage wraps along the injured part of Johnny's arm. "So anyway, what was that thing you brought out? What did you call it… a Persona?"

"Yeah, how come you could just bring that out all of a sudden?" Chie asked curiously. Even though she wanted Johnny to be healed as soon as possible so they could find a way out of the place, she was also curious about the being he summoned.

"Not sure… I guess it had to do with accepting myself?" Johnny said in an unsure tone. "It's kinda weird to explain… I'm not even sure if 'Persona' is its actual name."

"Wait, that thing had a name?" Yosuke asked, stopping momentarily to look at Johnny.

"What do you think it was?" Chie asked, causing Johnny to pause. He didn't know why, but he felt like the Persona had a name. It just wasn't coming to him yet. And calling it 'the Persona' was beginning to get redundant.

He needed a name for it. But what was appropriate? _"Well that nose of it looks like an elephant tusk…"_ "I'm calling it Tusk."

It was actually a pretty cool nickname now that Johnny thought about it. Reminded him about one of his favorite albums.

"Tusk, huh?" Yosuke let the name roll off his lips. The name for the power sounded cool to him. It fit too, in a strange way. _"If I had something like that, what would I name it?"_

"Good. Now that that's settled, how are we going to get out of here?" Chie asked, looking from side to side. "I'm still not feeling too good, and I feel like those freaky things are still watching us…"

An idea then went into Johnny's head. There was that Mascot! He gave Johnny the glasses, and that helped them escape from the initial Shadows! "Wait, that bear was trying to help us."

"Huh?" Both Chie and Yosuke asked at the same time.

"Look, he didn't attack us like those Shadow things. He even tried to warn us about them." Johnny elaborated as Yosuke finished up the bandages. Some blood was leaking through, but the flow was also stopping. "So maybe it knows a way out."

Yosuke nodded at that. It made sense. When he thought back on the meeting, the bear did seem like it knew what was going on with the place and was trying to warn them about it.

"Good point, but how do we find it?"

"Maybe it went back to hanging out in that place we came in. I mean, it did seem like it was just sitting there or something…" Chie muttered to herself, only to see both boys looking at her with shock. "W-what? I was just guessing!"

"Well, it's worth a shot in my book. We've got nothing to lose going to check the place out." Yosuke then began to bend down. "Come on dude, I'll…"

"No, just sling my right arm over your shoulders."

"Huh?" Yosuke asked, only to see Johnny smirking.

"It's been two years since I've been able to move my legs. I'm going to milk it for all its worth."

"O-Okay. If you're sure." With that, Yosuke went to Johnny's right side and slung his arm over his shoulders before lifting them both up. Johnny winced in pain. "You okay, man?"

"Spectacular." Johnny replied, giving Yosuke a genuine smile. "I don't care if it's a pain. I'm just glad to be feeling _something_ down there."

Both Chie and Yosuke could not help but smile as well. It was kind of uplifting, seeing Johnny actually happy. The they then began to leave the mansion, with Chie and Yosuke walking while Johnny's legs dragged along the ground, making slight motions in an attempt to walk.

* * *

**xxXXxx**

It had taken them several minutes to actually find a metal staircase similar to the ones that were around the area they arrived in. All they had to do was go through the door they left the apartment complex from and walk forward. There was one right by where the front exit should have been. Johnny felt a small amount of joy and triumph when he was able to lift his legs and climb up the stairs, albeit they hurt like hell as he did so.

_"Still… we would have gotten here a lot sooner if it wasn't for me."_ Johnny thought as they reached up the top of the stairs and found themselves on the platform they started on. "Finally, we're here."

"Phew! Glad to be here too!" Yosuke breathed out a sigh of relief as he put down Johnny for a second and then took several breaths. "Don't get me wrong, you're light for a guy. But seriously carrying you around is pretty straining for my muscles."

"Well maybe if you did more exercise than lifting boxes at Junes…" Chie mulled over, earning a glare from Yosuke.

"I do have to admit, you're pretty scrawny." Johnny joined in the light-hearted sniping as well, causing Yosuke's shoulders to slump.

"Man, you too? I just don't get a break…"

"Hey! It's you guys!"

The three teenagers then looked up to see the Mascot looking at them in what appeared to be shock. "Hey! It's you!" Chie exclaimed, pointing at the Mascot.

"W-What are you guys doing here?" The Mascot asked, now glaring at them. "I-I thought I told you guys to hide from the Shadows!"

"Yeah, fat lot of good that warning did for us!" Yosuke shouted angrily as he picked up Johnny again and the three drew closer to the bear, who now seemed to be getting nervous. "Those monsters almost killed us!"

"H-hey… Don't yell at me…" The Mascot spoke, shivering in fright. "I-I tried to warn you guys…"

"What the hell were those things?" Chie asked before pointing to Johnny. "One of them became another him and then turned into a huge freaking monster! Why did it say it was 'the true inner self'? Why were they even trying to kill us?"

"Where the hell is this place? And how do we get out?" Johnny asked, glaring at the bear. It might act frightened, but it had the benefit of knowing how to live in this place. They didn't. They needed a way to get out of here _now_.

"T-This place is what it is. It doesn't have a name. I-It's just where I live!" The Mascot now sounded like it was about to cry from all the questions. "A-And the Shadows are just the Shadows! They live here like I do, but they're really nasty. B-But you need to get out here now!"

Johnny honestly was annoyed with the fact that this thing was giving them vague answers. Why couldn't it just answer their questions? Was it just faking its freight, and the Mascot was just as dangerous as the Shadows?

_"No… seems too scared for it to be just a trick. Still doesn't excuse it from not answering the damn questions."_

"Look bear, we want to get out of here too!" Yosuke shouted, now clearly frustrated with the bear. "So just show us the exit to this place so we can go home!"

"Grr!" The personality shifts were also a bit annoying to Johnny as well. One minute it was scared and now it was frustrated? "That's why I'm going to let you out!"

That little tid-bit caused Johnny to blink. Did he hear that right? "Wait, you can let us out?"

"Yeah I can! I told you, I live here!" The Mascot then tapped its foot two times, and in a puff of smoke three old-school TVs appeared stacked on one-another.

"Holy…" Johnny muttered to himself with wide eyes, and Yosuke could not help but stare in awe.

"H-How did the TVs get there?" Chie questioned tentatively before the Mascot walked behind them.

"Now go, go! Get out of here! I'm a very busy bear!" Johnny then felt a big, plushy 'paw' push against his back and towards the TV.

"Hey! What the heck!" Chie cried out in shock as the Mascot did the same to her.

"Dude! Hands off! Yosuke objected before their hands went into the TV, just like the one in Junes. Except now it was much smaller. The three of them were squishing together as they were drawn inside one TV!

"Stop pushing goddamn-!" Johnny's own objections were then interrupted as his and the other two teenagers' heads were drawn inside the TV, and their bodies followed in with them.

* * *

**xxXXxx**

"OOF!" The three made a collective grunt in pain as they landed on one big dog pile on top of something hard and metallic. Johnny knew he was at the bottom, and he could tell Chie was on top of him since he could feel her breasts on his back. As for Yosuke…"

"YOU PERV!"

"GAHK!"

A sound of a dull thump, someone hitting the floor, and Yosuke's groan of pain confirmed he had landed on Chie and had suffered for it.

Johnny looked behind him to see Chie lifting herself up from his back and Yosuke clutching his stomach. He looked under him and saw his tipped over wheelchair. Cheesy store music filled the air, and as Johnny looked around he saw something he never knew he would miss.

The electronics department of Junes.

"I-I can't believe it! We made it!" Chie cried out in joy before bending down and hugging Johnny. The sudden action made the young man tense up, only for the girl to gasp before letting him go. "S-Sorry about that. You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Johnny confirmed with a smile before he turned around. He saw that Yosuke was getting up, using a TV display as support for himself. Johnny was also thankful that they were back. Despite still feeling slightly sick in his stomach, he felt at ease in the familiar environment of the real world. _"Not to mention what happened to my legs."_ His eyes then spotted something. It was a poster, one of a play called 'Way of the Ballad' starring Misuzu Hiiragi. _"Wait a second…"_ "Isn't that the poster from that room?"

"What?" Chie questioned before looking in the direction that Johnny was staring at. "Hey, you're right! They're the same! I couldn't tell without the face, but it's Misuzu Hiiragi! She's been all over the news lately. Something about her husband having an affair with that announcer who died the other day…"

That made some pieces connect in Johnny's head. That room was filled with those posters torn up, and the noose inside of it… "Maybe that room is connected with that announcer's death or something…"

"Like that freaky place has something to do with the murder?" Yosuke asked before shaking his head. "No! Nuh-uh! We gotta stop thinking about this!" Yosuke honestly didn't want to think any more about that place. It was still a bit traumatizing, despite being saved from certain death by Johnny and getting out thanks to that bear. It was just too unnatural to think about right now. "Look, we should head home. I'm gonna try to wipe this from my brain with a shower and pass out on my bed."

Chie honestly felt like that too. She still felt sick, and just thinking about that place made her feel even more sick, But what about Johnny? "What about Johnny's uniform? He can't go back like that!"

"Crap, you're right…" Yosuke muttered before unzipping his own school jacket and taking it off. He then handed it to Johnny, saying, "Here, you can borrow mine. Just give it back to me when you get a new one alright?"

It was the least he could do. _"After all, he did save our asses back there…"_ Yet remembering that scene just made the feeling of jealousy return to Yosuke's mind.

"Yeah, thanks." Johnny took off his ruined jacket before putting on Yosuke's. It was a bit big on him, due to him being a bit thiner than Yosuke, but not by much. It would be enough for Dojima not to see the bandage wrappings or question why his new uniform was already wrecked.

Johnny then attempted to kneel, just so that he could push up his wheelchair, before he noticed something.

Or more accurately noticed a lack of something.

He couldn't feel his legs again.

"What…?" Johnny muttered with wide eyes before he mentally commanded his left leg to move, only for it to remain still. "No…" He then began patting his legs, not feeling any sensation on them. "No, no, no…!" He then punched his knee in both anger and frustration. "NO! GOD DAMN IT!"

"Dude? What's wrong?" Yosuke asked in worry, with Chie going to Johnny's side.

"I-I can't feel them…" Johnny muttered, eyes now downcast and tears forming at the corners of his eyes. "I can't feel them anymore… They're gone again."

"What?" Chie asked in shock and horror. "Y-You mean…"

"This is just…." Yosuke muttered, feeling sadness now for the American. He just got the use of his legs back in that freaky place, and now that they're back he can't even move then anymore. "Damn, this is messed up."

Chie knew she had to do _something._ One would have to be heartless not to. She righted Johnny's wheelchair and said, "Come on Johnny. I-I know that it must be a shock but… if you need someone to talk to…"

"Just leave me alone right now." Johnny muttered as he lifted himself onto the wheelchair and placed his once again useless legs onto the rests. Noticing their hurt expressions, he said, "Look… this is just something I gotta deal with right now. I'll be fine. I just gotta sleep on this."

"But…!" Chie shouted, only for Yosuke to place his hand on her shoulder to stop him. He then took out his phone and opened it to show a number to Johnny.

"Look man, if you need someone to talk to just call me okay?" Johnny could not help but be touched by the motion. They were seriously that worried about how he felt right now?

_"Probably just want to make sure you don't do anything stupid…"_

Johnny shook away those thoughts and pulled a smile onto his face.

"Yeah. Look, I'll be fine just… I actually feel a lot better than I have in years." Johnny smiled, though it was a little strained. "This is just… something I've gotta deal with."

Chie also brought out her own phone and punched in her own number. Johnny needed to know that she had her back as well! "You can call me whenever too, okay?"

Johnny slowly nodded before taking out his own phone, a simple blue cell-phone, and copied down both Chie and Yosuke's numbers before texting them the simple message "see u 2morrow" before turning his wheelchair around and pushing himself to the direction of the elevator.

"Are you sure he'll be alright alone?" Chie whispered to Yosuke, who shook his head before picking up Johnny's wrecked school jacket.

"I'm not sure, but I'm pretty sure he wants to deal with this his own way." Yosuke spoke with a sigh. Still, what was up with that place? It was full of so many weird creatures, it was so big and had so many places, and it even gave a crippled guy the ability to walk again!

Despite the danger, something within Yosuke made him want to go back and check that mysterious place again…

In the elevator, alone, Johnny was silent for a few seconds. He just stared at his legs before smashing his fist into the wall next to him. He ignored the pain that came from his hand and simply punched the wall again, his face showing emotional anguish as he kept looking onto his lame legs.

"God damn it…"

* * *

**xxXXxx**

_"Where is that kid?"_ Dojima asked himself, sitting at the table and looking from the door back to his cooling ramen noodles. Nanako was to his left, quietly watching TV as she waited for her ramen to cool as well.

His nephew was now late for dinner, and it was both dark and raining outside. Normally, Dojima would understand that teenagers like to stay out late with their friends, but the recent murder that occurred, Dojima was feeling a bit uneasy. _"What if he fell somewhere? What if he's hurt outside?"_ While his nephew was rude and disrespectful, Dojima did care about him. Johnny had a rough life, and his current situation did not deny that view.

But the thing is that taking care of a wheelchair-bound kid was a lot harder than taking care of a normal teenager. Johnny's fist day at the house proved that. Not only that, but he still had no idea how to talk frankly with his nephew. Sometimes, he fumbled with how to start a conversation. Other times, he was off to work or just remained silent. _"Wish he could start the conversations rather than me…"_

Suddenly the door opened to reveal Johnny, giving the man a small amount of relief. He saw his nephew put away his umbrella and put it to the side while taking off his shoes. Now that he thought about it, there was something he needed to ask him. "Hey, welcome back."

Johnny gave a nod as he brought his wheelchair up the step, and Dojima could not help but notice his nephew's tired looking eyes. "Is something wrong?"

"…No." Johnny said after a moment of hesitance. "I'm fine. Just had to deal with some stuff today."

Dojima wanted to question his nephew as to what this 'stuff' was, but decided to drop it. Might be some teenager -exclusive business. "Well come here. There's a cup of ramen by the microwave and…"

"I'm not hungry." Johnny answered sharply. "I ate with some classmates of mine, so I'm not really up for dinner."

"Ah." While the response was a bit on the rude side, it did give Dojima some relief that Johnny was connecting with his classmates. It would do him good to have some friends. "Just don't make it a habit. But say… listen… Have you heard of a student named Saki Konishi?"

"Yeah. Wasn't she the one that found that body?" Johnny asked, causing Dojima to sigh. Rumors spread too fast in this town.

"Yeah, that's right. But today we got a call from her family. She's disappeared." Johnny's eyes shot up slightly from shock, but nothing else. "We've got people looking for her, but so far there hasn't been any progress. So if you see or hear anything, tell me right away." Dojima then gave a sigh as he muttered, "My work just keeps piling up…"

"Yeah, well… goodnight." Johnny then turned around his chair for the stairs, leaving both Dojima and Nanako alone once again. Johnny wouldn't have minded eating the ramen with them, he was kind of hungry, but he also wasn't in the mood to eat anything. He just wanted to go to bed. _"Maybe a nap will help me out…"_ When Johnny reached the stairs, he grabbed the railing and lifted himself up to begin the climb. Johnny could still hear the TV from the stairs as he pulled himself up to his room.

_"Up until now, Mayumi Yamano's whereabouts prior to her death had been unknown. But the police investigation has found that she had been staying at the region's famous Amagi Inn."_

_"Isn't that the inn that Yukiko girl's family run?"_ Johnny asked himself, ignoring the disturbingly enthusiastic reporters comments about the inn. The reporter was making him sick. He was gushing over an inn when a person had died? Did that guy even know how to do his own job? _"It's probably just a coincidence anyways."_ The young man thought to himself with a shake of his head. Yosuke was right. He needed to stop thinking about that freaky place…

Ah who was he kidding? He couldn't forget what happened in that place. Not after he felt them… Not after his legs moved…

Johnny then stopped himself as he reached the top of the stairs, sitting down on the top step. He heard the TV warn about more incoming fog, but he just tuned out the rest. _"If this were that place, I probably could have climbed those steps…"_ He then began dragging himself to his room's door, sliding it open and dragging himself inside. Moving his legs out of the way, he closed the door.

Johnny lifted himself onto the couch and laid there, still.

He stayed awake for two hours, staring at the ceiling. He remembered the pain he felt from his legs, as well as the sensations of standing, of his feet moving, of lifting them up…

After remembering that, Johnny cried himself to sleep for the first time in two years.

* * *

**xxXXxx**

"Hello… and welcome to the Velvet Room."

A gentlemanly voice made Johnny open his eyes to see a strange old man sitting in front of him, in what looked like the inside of a limousine, and a woman sitting to the man's left holding a book on her left.

"Who the hell…" Memories then began flowing into Johnny's head, along with the sense of familiarity and ease. For some reason, Johnny felt like he was safe. Not only that, but he remembered! He met these two before in a dream! "You're that Igor guy…"

"Correct." Igor showed his smirk and bloodshot eyes to Johnny. "Do not be alarmed. You are still fast asleep in the real world. We have merely summoned you from within your dreams."

"In my dreams?" Johnny muttered to himself while clutching his head. Was this weirdo actually watching him? "What the hell is this all about? Who are you people?"

"We are here simply to congratulate you on your accomplishment." Margaret stated, looking at Johnny coldly. But he could tell that her tone held a degree of awe. "It is not a simple task to face oneself. And by accepting your Shadow, you were able to awaken your power."

"My… power?" Johnny muttered to himself, looking at his right hand. The hand that he used to summon Tusk… "Wait, how do you know about that?"

"It is my duty to assist those such as yourself." Igor exclaimed with his ever-present smirk. "This is a realm where only those who have forged a contract, may enter. Now that you have accepted yourself, and grasped onto the power you hold within, we shall assist you for your coming journey."

"How do you know about Tusk?" Johnny questioned, not taking his eyes off the two. "What the hell is he?"

"A Persona is a manifestation of oneself. A facade of determination that one wears to face various difficulties in life." That answer was cryptic. Just like the bear, Igor liked to speak in vague sentences. "While your name for your Persona in appropriate in the physical sense, that is not its true name. It's understandable that you were not able to hear it. Your sudden exposure to a world beyond your understanding must have deafened your mind's ears." With a flick of his wrist, the sound of glass was heard. "Now that you had some time to recover, your mind should be clear enough to hear it." Johnny looked up to see…

…none other than Tusk staring down at him.

**_"I am thou... thou art I."_** Tusk spoke in a regal, booming voice. _**"From the sea of thy soul, I come forth. Thou refer to me as Tusk, and while I shall accept that name, my true name is Morpheus, Lord of**_ **Dreams."** Tusk then disappeared in a flash of blue energy, transforming into the small card it became back in the TV world and floating towards Johnny.

"That is your card." Igor spoke up as the card floated in front of Johnny. "It is The Fool, the Wild Card. Like the number zero…"

"It is full of infinite potential." Margaret finished, as the card disappeared into Johnny's body.

"Wait, what does all of this have to do with me?" Johnny asked before pointing at Igor. "What the hell do you know about that place!? How was I… How was I able to walk in there!?"

This guy knew too damn much to just be some helpful bystander. Did he create that world? Was he the one that sent those Shadows after him? _"Just what do they know?"_

Igor gave a chuckle as he flicked his hand once again. "All in good time. But for now, I would like you to take this." An object then appeared on Johnny's lap, which he picked up and looked at. It was a silver key the size of his palm, with a cross-like milling and an image of a half-white and half-black mask on both sides of the head. "This is the Contractor's Key. From this night onwards, you shall be our guest here at the Velvet Room. We shall now assist you from here on with your journey. However, there is one price to this assistance." Igor then stared at Johnny, his smirk growing even wider. "You must abide by your contract and assume responsibility for all decisions you may make."

Johnny could not help but grow even more frustrated with this man. Just what was he talking about? What catastrophe was awaiting him? _"But I won't get any answers by just demanding him to do so. Maybe this is the thing that can get me to open him up more?"_ With that in mind, Johnny said, "Yeah, sure." Johnny picked up the key and put it into his right pants pocket.

Igor's smirk grew even wider, if that was possible. "Excellent." The limo then seemed to pick up speed. Johnny could not help but notice Margaret was flipping through her book. "I am looking forward to the development of your journey. Perhaps… just perhaps… destiny shall be broken with the result of your coming trials."

"Your Persona is very unique, dear guest." Margaret spoke as she looked at him."Morpheus was a god who took upon many forms, and cared deeply about those close to him. Perhaps it would be correct to assume that its form mirrors the growth of your own heart…"

"Perhaps it is simply the result of the event that helped to bring about this timeline." Igor mused out, his voice seeming to be excited at the very thought. "After all, so much has changed in the world from what it previously was…"

Johnny was ready to ask what they were talking about, perhaps demand they finally tell him what was up with the world on the other side of the TV, and how it made him able to use his legs again.

Instead, his vision of the Velvet Room disappeared, fading from view and returning him into comforting darkness…

* * *

****< \--[To Be Continued |\|]** **

* * *

  **Name: 'Tusk' (True Name: Morpheus)  
**

**User: Jonathan 'Johnny' Joestar**

**Destructive Power:** **D**

**Speed: D**

**Range: D**

**Durability: B**

**Precision: D**

**Development Potential: A**

**Powers:**

**-The Ability to spin the wind of an area within ten meters at high speeds and force. Causes light damage to targets**

**-Can use horn as a physical weapon to attack with, but can be knocked back by enemies with minimum force.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tend to enjoy these little cool-down sessions after the fights, because I get to have the characters contemplate on the recent developments, shift character relationships a bit, and hint at future developments. Also, making Igor come off as creepy and mysterious is kind of hard to do. He's got a very distinct voice after all!


	5. Fall Out Boy Part 2

**_April 15th, 2011:_ **

Johnny's eyes fluttered open. The rays of morning sunshine were filtering through his window letting him know the day had started, but his body still felt tired.

_"Why did I wake up so early? Was it because of… that dream?"_ Johnny thought drowsily before he noticed something on his nose. _"What the… a butterfly?"_

It was a blue butterfly, one whose wings seemed to glow. Perched right on his nose and so close, Johnny could see its many eyes staring at him. Before he could take a swat at it, the butterfly lifted off and began to fly in the air. Johnny paused, watching the butterfly as it gracefully floated in the air above him. The crippled boy found it a very odd sight.

Unconsciously, Johnny pushed himself off of the sofa and opened the window, letting the butterfly outside before he stretched and yawned. He glanced outside for a second to see that the fog covering the street outside the house, shown through the small rays of sunlight peeking from the east horizon.

_"Fog again? Man, what a weird town…"_

A moldy smell then hit his nostrils, causing Johnny to sniff the under-shirt. He immediately pulled back, frowning at the stench stuck to his clothes. It smelled of sweat and… blood? Johnny sighed, remembering yesterday's events and why his clothes would smell the way they did, taking off the jacket Yosuke had lent him and briefly inspected the torn sleeve. He unwrapped the bandages that covered where he received the splinters from that weird TV World to inspect the damage. Most of the wounds were surprisingly healed, but there were a few tiny scabs still there, and some dried blood stains were on his arm. Even if they'd been relatively minor wounds, Johnny was mildly surprised that they'd healed so cleanly overnight. Perhaps it was an aftereffect of that world? Johnny then took off the bandages and threw them into the small trash bin that was by the desk in his room. That done, and already sick of the smell from his clothes and feeling the sweat, blood and grime still stuck to his skin, he decided that a bath would be the perfect remedy.

Johnny felt something in his pants pocket. It wasn't his wallet, and other than his phone those were the only two things he put in them. Johnny reached into his right pocket and plucked out a small key.

It was just like the one that Igor guy gave to him in his dreams.

_"So it was real. I'm not just imagining them."_ Johnny inspected the key for a second more before placing it on the table. He would deal with that later. Right now, he needed to clean himself from the gunk of yesterday.

With that, Johnny lifted himself from the sofa and onto the floor. Taking Yosuke's jacket, he put it into his school bag on the table before dragging himself to the closet. He opened it and took out his second pair of school pants and a mother school jacket he had. He made a mental note to get a replacement as he threw a clean undershirt and a pair of underwear into the 'pile' he would be taking to the bathroom. He grabbed the clothes with his left arm and dragged himself across the floor with his right to the door.

But he then stopped and looked back at his room. Or more specifically, back at his trash bit. A piece of the bandage was hanging from the edge, showing a mark of blood from his wounds. He then put down his clothes and dragged himself over to the trash bin, tossing the bandage into it and pushing the bin underneath the desk, away from view.

He was not stupid. If Dojima noticed this if he went into the room, the guy would ask him a LOT of questions. Also, since he was a cop, he probably wouldn't accept any bullshit excuse, or buy that he spent yesterday inside of a TV World.

After all, who would unless they experienced it for themselves?

* * *

**xxXXxx**

It wasn't difficult to get to the bathroom. It was just a few feet down the hall from his room. Made Johnny's life a bit easier actually. After placing his clean clothes and towel just a bit away from the bath for easy access. Johnny filled up the tub with warm water while stripping himself, placing his dirty clothes next to his clean ones in a strewn pile before actually entering the tub.

As Johnny scrubbed his scalp with the shampoo, he thought back to the TV World. It was such a bizarre place… first he and the others were at some weird TV Station, then an apartment, then some copy of his old home. How did it even know what his old place looked like anyways? Did the place go into his memories? That would explain his Shadow, and how it could show his worst memories with very little effort.

_"But then what is a Shadow?"_ Johnny wondered as he took the small bucket of clean water that was on the bath's edge and began pouring it on top of his head. Turns out some Japanese culture practices were useful for him. _"Those things were nothing like my Shadow. They seemed more like regular monsters than anything. And then there's that mascot thing that just acted weird, but didn't try to kill us."_

Johnny sighed a bit as he got the shampoo out of his hair. That place was just too weird. It had access to his thoughts, made monsters that came out of nowhere and try to kill them, and after beating his hidden thoughts and emotions he got some crazy power in the form of Tusk.

_"And my legs… I could walk…"_

Why? Why did that happen? Johnny had gone to numerous doctors following his accident in the vain hope that there was _some_ possibility he could walk again. He didn't care how much he would drain from the savings he acquired from prize money, or even tapping into his family's wealth. He just wanted to be a _somebody_ again, someone who actually had worth as a person. But every doctor told him the same thing. That his spine was shattered, and no surgery could fix it. But in that world, his legs _moved,_ like he used to dream of them doing. It hurt sure, but did that really matter?

Johnny did not care if all he could do was slightly move them, and needed someone to help move him around. So long as he could _stand_ , so long as he could _walk_ …

His thoughts then turned to the occupants of the Velvet Room. They must know something, but were carefully avoiding telling him of any true importance. It was kind of annoying, being vague yet at the same time open. _"Maybe I should press them for more answers next time."_

But despite wanting answers from the mysterious Igor and Margaret, despite knowing the dangers, and despite barely leaving there alive, Johnny wanted to go back to the TV World. To go back to the place that allowed his lame legs to move, at least one more time…

Suddenly, the door opened, causing Johnny to snap out of his thoughts and look to see Dojima.

"Oh! Sorry Johnny." Dojima muttered as he quickly turned around to not look at Johnny. "We, uh, never put locks on the door, and I'm usually up before Nanako…"

"Just don't look." Johnny muttered as he began to scrub his left arm, so that the suds could cover his injuries. He didn't need Dojima to accidentally look and discover them… _"Oh crap, my clothes!"_ If Dojima looked at them and spotted his ruined undershirt, then things could end pretty badly. _"Oh god, please don't let him look… I gotta make him leave as soon as possible!"_

"Um, do you need anything from over…?" Dojima asked before Johnny interrupted him.

"I'm fine. Took everything I needed from under the sink, and I can dry myself just fine. Look, this isn't the first time I washed myself. I don't need any help for this stuff."

"Johnny, look I'm just trying to do my part." Dojima replied, his voice becoming stern. "You don't need to be so stubborn about this."

"Well I'm fine, so that you _very_ much for your concern." Johnny said with a sarcastic tone, his eyes darting to his dirty clothes. _"Come on… hurry up and leave…"_

"But anyway, is school going okay for you?" Dojima asked, deciding to change the subject. This wasn't the place to have an argument with his nephew.

"Yes, its fine." Johnny replied quickly. "Look, this is freaking awkward. Can you please get out of here so I can finish this?"

"Oh, right sorry." Dojima muttered before his eyes spotted the dirty pile of clothes on the floor. _"I can at least do this much for him…"_ He then bent down, not noticing Johnny's eyes widen in fear and a bead of sweat roll down his temple before Dojima's cell phone suddenly rang. _"What is it now?"_ Dojima then lifted himself up, took out his phone, and said, "Dojima here."

Johnny watched as Dojima's eyes turned serious and grip his phone tight. "I'll be right there." He then put away the cell phone and said, "Sorry Johnny, I have to go to work. Tell Nanako I'll be home late." Dojima then finally left the bathroom, making sure to close the door behind him.

Johnny let out a sigh of relief as he sunk into the bath water. That was way too close. _"I think I lost my appetite for breakfast now…"_

Well, he might as well get out and get dressed before Nanako wandered inside.

* * *

**xxXXxx**

Johnny pushed his wheelchair down the flood path road, his umbrella opened as it rained down on everyone. The morning fog was gone, but now it was replaced with storm clouds which wasn't that better in comparison.

Johnny closed his eyes a bit as the wind blew, gripping his umbrella so it wouldn't fall out of the slot it was placed in. Not only was it rainy, but it was quite windy as well. The perfect combo.

Johnny didn't really want to go to school. He was a bit hesitant to go back to the same routine, pretending like nothing ever happened. _"Are Chie and Yosuke going to ignore it too? Wipe yesterday from their minds?"_ He wouldn't blame them if they did. His problems shouldn't keep them up at night. He wouldn't want them beating themselves over what happened to him.

Suddenly, the wind blew hard, and Johnny was too slow to grab the umbrella as it was yanked from its slot. "Damn!" Johnny cried as he reached out for it, only to miss and watch it fall to the ground. Sighing, Johnny prepared to turn himself around to retrieve it before he heard a voice.

"Hey, you dropped this."

Johnny looked to see the speaker. It was a girl, maybe his age or a year younger. She had pale skin, chin-length brown hair, and grey eyes which had some make-up on to shadow them. On her lips was light pink lipstick, and on top of her head was a dark blue officer's cap with a golden button on it that had a 'V' engraving on it. She wore a sleeveless white shirt that had a black tie that had several different pins on it and a red choker necklace that had a lock on it. Her skirt was checkered, and she wore a belt that had a golden buckle with the engraving of a horse shoe on it. She wore red-striped gloves, and black-striped white stockings. Her long boots were checkered in the exact same pattern and color of her skirt amaking them match. Johnny also noticed that she was carrying a blue bag that had a single golden button on it with the engraving of the letters 'MB' on it.

"You listening to me? I said you dropped this." The girl repeated more forcefully, now sounding annoyed and snapping Johnny from his inspection of her. Reaching up, Johnny took the umbrella from her.

"Thanks." Johnny muttered his appreciation as he placed the umbrella back where it belonged, while the girl huffed and looked away.

"Whatever, all I did was pick it up…" With that, the girl began walking away, not even caring about the rain falling on her.

_"Doesn't she care about getting soaked?"_ Shrugging, Johnny turned himself around and returned to his path towards school.

He then saw a couple of girls from Yasogami at the side of the road, and his ears picked up on their gossip.

"When I looked, I saw three police cars zooming by."

"You live by the police station don't you? Did you hear anything?"

"Some yelling, but nothing else. Total disappointment…"

"Geez, you need to pay attention more to stuff like that! How else are we supposed to get the juicy stories?"

Johnny could hear some police sirens in the distance. _"Did they get that killer already?"_ It would explain all the police activity, and why Dojima rushed out of the house. He then looked at his watch. If he kept stopping like this, he would be late and have to hear King Moron flap his gums.

But as Johnny pushed himself forward, a small sinking feeling in his gut happened.

_"Maybe I should have had breakfast…"_

* * *

**xxXXxx**

Chie stretched herself in her seat as class ended and lunch began. Her bruised muscles slightly aching but not by much. _"Man, it feels like class gets duller and duller every day…"_ She then turned to her desk neighbor, Johnny Joestar, who was currently lying down on his desk with his head turned to the other side, blocking his face from her view. _"At least he's alright. I was worried how he was doing."_

She really was. When she got home (Barely getting her parents off her back by explaining the bruises were from a new training exercise she implemented onto herself. This wasn't really a lie, because she did do this kind of stuff from time to time.), she went straight to her bed but could not sleep until nearly midnight. She was just worried for Johnny. After what she learned from his Shadow, she could understand the American more. He was just so lonely, felt so heartbroken and depressed from all the events that unfolded in his life. He nearly killed himself from that depression. It was only luck that he even came to Inaba. _"But he said that doing that crap was stupid. He wouldn't try it again! What am I thinking?"_ Chie lightly shook her head to dispel those thoughts.

But still, what happened yesterday was still on her mind. She didn't like to think about it, but her mind always wandered to the TV World. What was up with that place? What were those monsters in there? How could it show Johnny's memories? And most importantly, how could it be so cruel as to give Johnny back the use of his legs only to rip it away once he was outside?

_"No, I gotta stop thinking about that freaky place! Johnny just needs people to be with! People like me! I won't ditch him like those assholes he hung out with! He just needs to stick by me, and nothing bad will happen to him again."_ Nodding to herself, Chie turned towards Johnny and asked, "Hey, you okay?"

"I forgot to bring my lunch…" Johnny muttered, causing Chie to give a sympathetic flinch. She knew how that felt.

"So, why not just head to the cafeteria? I mean, it's not that ba-." Chie then sighed before correcting herself. "Yeah, don't go there. Food's terrible." Johnny's stomach then let out a loud groan, and Chie could literally _feel_ the hunger rolling off Johnny. She wished she could help him out a bit… _"Wait! There's that!"_

Digging into her bag, she took out a small box containing several dumplings inside. Her mom gave them to her as a special treat, and while she had been planning on sharing it with Yukiko, her friend had left earlier to take care of her family's Inn, promising to be back by after lunch. _"But Johnny could use a couple."_ "Hey, you wanna share some of these with me?"

Johnny turned his head towards Chie as she took off the wrapping that covered the dumplings to show him. There were six in total, and each looked pretty good. "What are they?"

"My mom made them. They're mitsudango. The special ingredient is honey. They were made in this town called Morioh, and now they're super famous for it. Think of them like a dessert, one of the best you'll ever taste!" Chie declared while Johnny picked one up. "My mom actually grew up in Morioh before she moved here. Said that they aren't all that different from each other. Now the trick to eating these is…"

But it was too late. By the time Chie reached her last sentence, Johnny placed the mitsudango in his mouth. "Wait! Stop! You have to…!" Johnny then bit down, and the filling quickly squirted out of his lips…

…And all over Yosuke, who was just walking towards them.

"Aw dude! Sick!" Yosuke cried out as he wiped himself, while Johnny wiped his mouth. "What was that for!?"

"What the hell was that!?" Johhny asked, swallowing what was inside of his mouth. _"Hey, this actually does taste pretty good…"_

"If you had just waited and listened for a couple of seconds this wouldn't have happened!" Chie declared with a huff. "There's a special way to eat these things." She picked up one and brought it near her mouth. "Biting it with your front teeth makes it squirt out everywhere. You need to slide them to the back of your mouth with your tongue and chew with your molars. Like this." Chie then placed the treat in her mouth, making sure to slide it back and close her lips before biting down. The mitsudango burst, but the resulting filling 'explosion' was caught within her mouth. After several seconds of chewing, she swallowed the treat down her throat. "That's how you eat them."

"I can't believe my jacket is already dirty." Yosuke groaned in despair.

"Oh relax, I promised to bring back your jacket remember?" Johnny asked before reaching into his bag and taking out the uniform jacket that he got from Yosuke. "Just put this thing on. It kind of stinks but at least it isn't completely dirty."

"Thanks man." Yosuke muttered before taking off his now dirty jacket and putting on the one he wore yesterday. Chie could not help but noticed the bags under Yosuke's eyes, and the fact that he seemed a bit… fidgety. "Hey Yosuke, is everything alright?"

"Huh? Oh. Well… I'm kinda worried." Yosuke replied as Johnny reached for the mitsudango box and took another treat, putting it into his mouth and making sure to eat it correctly. Tasted pretty good. Sweet from the honey, had texture from what Johnny believed soybeans and sesame seeds, and a small creamy flavor. "Did you guys… watch the Midnight Channel last night?"

_That_ caused Johnny and Chie to freeze up. "W-What?" Chie stammered out while looking from side to side to see if anyone was listening. "Why would you even want to look at that thing again?"

"Well, after what happened yesterday I wanted to check it out again." Yosuke muttered out while scratching the back of his head. "I swear, it was totally Saki-senpai this time. The picture was clearer than before, but…"

"But…?" Johnny asked with a raised eyebrow, waiting to hear the exception for this viewing.

"She looked like she was in tons of pain before it switched off." Yosuke finished before taking out his cellphone. "I haven't seen her all day, and she hasn't been answering any of my texts."

"Maybe she's just sick or something." Johnny informed Yosuke, who looked unsure at the possibility.

"I don't know. I just… I just want to make sure everything is going alright with her." Yosuke muttered out, deciding to send another text to Saki. Something wasn't right. Saki usually gave him at least one text reply back after a couple. But her not even doing that was making a pit of worry develop in his stomach.

"W-well I'm sure she'll reply back soon Yosuke." Chie tried to cheer up the young man before looking back at her mitsudango box and noticing half of them gone already. Holy crap Johnny! You eat fast!"

"What? I'm hungry." Johnny replied with a shrug. "Thanks for those, though."

That made a smirk form on Chie's face, and dispel the previous worry she had thanks to Yosuke. "No problem. Just don't expect this every day. Mitsudango is my favorite dessert you know."

A bell then rang over the loudspeakers, before a voice said, _"Attention students, please head to the gymnasium for an important assembly. Make sure to come in an orderly fashion and…"_

"An assembly? I wonder what this' about…" Chie muttered before glumly looking down at her treats. "I didn't even get to finish them all…"

"Well come on, let's go and get this over with." Johnny stated before placing himself into his wheelchair and moving forward while Chie packed up before following suit. Yosuke looked at his phone one more time before following the two down.

_"Saki-senpai…"_

* * *

**xxXXxx**

"Hey! Listen up all of you! The Principal has something to say, so shut up and pay attention! Make so much as a peep and you're going down on my rotten little shit-list!" King Moron declared before his eyes scanned the entire student body. But Johnny could not help but notice that King Moron's glare was sterner than just showing his utter contempt at the student body. Even his shoulders seemed a bit more slouched. "Consider yourselves warned!"

"Does he ever stop saying that?" Johnny whispered to Chie, only for her to shake her head.

"Nah, so you better get used to it." Chie replied back as the principal walked up to the podium on stage, who shot King Moron a slightly annoyed look before turning to the students.

_"She still hasn't texted back…"_ Yosuke thought to himself as he glanced at his phone. _"Senpai, why aren't you replying…?"_

"I… regret to say I have a terrible announcement for all of you." The principle began in a hesitant voice. "One of our third-year students, Saki Konishi of Class 3…"

_That_ caused Yosuke to look up. Did something happen to Saki? Why was he calling a meeting about it? What could be so bad that it would…? Realization then began to enter Yosuke's mind, and his body shook in horror. _"No, no way…"_

"…Has passed away."

"W-What? Passed away?" Chie spoke in shock, covering her mouth with her hand on reflex. She had never been close to Saki, but for her to die? How could this have happened?

"She was found deceased early this morning. The reasons for her passing are currently being investigated by the police."

"So that's what Dojima left in the morning for." Johnny muttered to himself, looking down slightly. He honestly never knew the Saki girl personally, except for the fact that Yosuke liked her and the feeling wasn't mutual. But to hear somebody died within their school was still a bit of a shock.

"If the police ask you for your cooperation I urge you, as students of this school, to only provide the facts."

Whispers then began echoing within the group of gathered students, but Yosuke couldn't hear them. It was all muted to him. How? How could Saki die? _"Senpai seemed tired, but she was fine just two days ago! How could this have happened? How…?"_

A thought then entered his mind. The murderer of that reporter lady was never found. Could Saki have been another victim? Was she murdered like that woman?

"All right, settle down!" The principle raised his voice, quieting the chatting students and gaining back their attention. "I have been assured by the faculty that there's no evidence that bullying was involved in the incident. So mind what you say. Not only to the police, but to anyone who asks."

"Found dead? Why? Why did this happen?" Chie muttered in sorrow before looking at Yosuke. "Yosuke…"

She couldn't find the words to say to him. She didn't know if it was even okay _to_ say anything to Yosuke. She knew how much Yosuke liked Saki. He could not be okay with this news. Should she try to comfort him? _"What should I do?"_

Yosuke looked away, a pained expression on his face and his hands gripped his arms and squeezed, most likely to keep himself composed. Deciding that now wasn't the best time to try and talk to him, and turned around to face the principle, but kept glancing back at Yosuke.

Johnny himself looked at Yosuke. _"Damn. Hope he's going to be okay."_ While he didn't care much for Saki, he knew Yosuke cared. But the guy was already holding in his emotions. Yosuke was handling sudden death better than Johnny had when Nicholas died.

When he learned what happened, Johnny couldn't stop crying for a day straight.

Johnny made sure to keep an eye on Yosuke as the principle's lecture droned on.

* * *

**xxXXxx**

It would take another thirty minutes before the principle ended the assembly, and everyone began heading back to their next classes. Yosuke walked off on his own, and both Chie and Johnny decided it would be best for him to be alone right now. The two decided to head to their own class together, but then they herd two girls gossip nearby the elevator.

"She died the same way as that announcer right?"

"Well last time, it was an antenna. Bit I heard this time it was on a telephone pole. It's got to be a serial murder case."

"Someone said the cause of death was from some unknown poison."

"Unknown poison? Come on, this isn't some sci-fi drama. But hey, have you heard? Someone saw a girl like Saki on the Midnight Channel."

The two continued gossiping as they walked away, leaving Chie fuming. How could they just throw rumors like that around as if they were nothing? "It's easy to toss around theories when you're not involved…"

"How could the cause of death have spread so fast? We haven't been out of school yet." Johnny asked out loud both to himself and to Chie. He didn't remember the principle discussing that. But despite his curiosity, he was kind of pissed that the two were discussing Saki's death with some sort of giddiness. It just wasn't natural.

"Who knows? But still, to die just like that announcer did…" Chie shivered a bit in freight. "How can someone be so sick? Just to kill someone and drag a body up somewhere and put it on display?"

Johnny had to agree. It was pretty sick to think about, a killer who got his kicks off of doing something like that. But something was bothering him. _"The cause of death is unknown. So how did this guy kill them?"_ It was a bit morbid to think about, but it was definitely a problem that persisted on his mind.

"Hey guys…"

The two turned to see Yosuke, looking depressed and staring a bit on the floor. "Yosuke? Are you… okay?" Chie tentatively asked, only for Yosuke to shake his head.

"No Chie. I'm pretty far from all right." Yosuke replied as he looked at both of them. "That thing I saw on the Midnight Channel… I think it has something to do with Saki-senpai's death."

That caused both Johnny and Chie to blink in surprise. "What do you mean?" Johnny asked in confusion, and Yosuke took a deep breath to compose himself.

"Saki-senpai… when she was shown on that cannel last night, she looked like she was writhing in pain! And now, this morning, she's dead! And what's worse is that she was put into something like that announcer lady's body…" Yosuke spoke, trying to keep his voice cam. "Well, some guys were saying a couple days before that Yamano was their soul mate from that Channel…"

"So you think there might be a connection." It was easy enough logic for Johnny to follow. It made sense, since it did seem like a pattern. Yamano and Saki were shown on the Midnight Channel just before their deaths, so perhaps they have something with the murders.

"W-wait. This is crazy! People who appear on the Midnight Channel… die?" Chie let out a frightened whisper, looking from side to side. Thankfully, the hallways seemed to be devoid of students. But that just made the atmosphere even creepier than before.

Now, Johnny's mind was brought back to his memories of the TV World. He remembered the Shadows, and that room with all the ripped posters on the walls. "Could that world be involved with the murders…?"

"You came to the same conclusion too?" Yosuke asked in surprise. He… honestly hadn't been expecting that. Yosuke thought that only he had been able to fit the pieces together and draw some kind of connection between the two. It was… kind of uplifting yet annoying that Johnny had been able to figure it out too. "Well, I guess it's good that I'm not the only one."

"Wait, come on guys." Chie pleaded with them both. "Let's stop talking about this. I'm sure that the police will…"

"What the hell can they do? Saki-senpai and Yamano might have been killed by a dangerous TV World! You seriously think the cops will be able to find that out? Would they even believe us? 'Oh hey! We think we found what might have killed them officers! You just need to follow us through a TV in Junes to a world on the other side!' Oh yeah, they would _totally_ believe that!" Yosuke yelled, shocking Chie a bit. Since when did he raise his voice like this? "Even if we told them, they probably wouldn't do a damn thing. They would probably just kick us out for wasting their time."

Chie looked down, feeling ashamed. If it turned out what both Johnny and Yosuke were theorizing was true, then they would probably be the only ones who would believe it. Everybody else would probably think that they were crazy. Plus, the cops might not even give them enough _time_ to prove it since the premise of the whole thing was ridiculous enough.

Johnny thought a bit. _"The murders could have happened inside of the TV World…"_

Inside the place he could be able to walk again.

If he went inside, could he find some answers as to why his lame feet moved?

Only one way to find out. Johnny just hoped that Yosuke and Chie would be willing.

"So let's go in there and see."

"What?" Both Chie and Yosuke asked at the same time, looking at Johnny in surprise.

"If the murders might be happening inside of that TV World, wouldn't it be better if we went and checked it out for ourselves?" Johnny asked both of them. "If we looked around, we probably might find something."

Johnny knew that this was low. He didn't truly feel the emotional need for justice of Saki's death like Yosuke did. It wasn't accurate to say that he didn't care, it's just that… well, he just wanted to find his own answers as well. Yosuke and Chie were good people compared to him. He would help them check out the place for clues on how Saki and Yamano were killed, but in the end he was searching for his own answers.

Was it selfish? Yes.

Was it wrong? Questionable.

Would he leave them hanging out to dry? Absolutely not.

Johnny would help them out to the best of his ability. He would never abandon Chie or Yosuke. They saw the worst of him and still accepted him.

Yosuke gaped a bit at Johnny's suggestion before smiling. "Heh, looks like we had the same idea then. Glad I'm not the only one thinking it."

Of course, his reasons for wanting to do so were completely different from Johnny's

Chie did not have the same idea, and was just staring at the two boys with wide eyes.

"A-are you two crazy!?" Chie yelled out in anger. "Do you remember what happened the last time we went to that freaky place? We almost got killed!"

"Maybe, but now I have Tusk." Johnny stated to the kung-fu enthusiast. "With him, I can fight off any Shadow that comes our way. We'll be fine, and when we need to get out we just have to find that weird bear."

"Hey, yeah…!" Yosuke said, remembering the thing Johnny had used to fight those monsters they'd encountered. "I doubt your lookalike will make another appearance, so if it's just the small fry I think we'd be able to handle it."

"No, I won't let you!" Chie shouted, crossing her arms in an 'X' position in front of Johnny. "We can get hurt! We can get _killed_! I-If that happens…"

"Chie." Johnny's voice was now completely calm. It was an unnerving calm. "If you don't want to come that's fine. But Yosuke and I are going to find answers."

Chie looked into Johnny's eyes.

For some reason, Chie could swear that she saw black flames in his pupils.

_"Oh man, he isn't budging…"_ Chie whined out in her head. Was she scared? Yes. What sane person wouldn't be when someone suggested that they go back to a world filled with monsters that nearly killed them all?

But Johnny wasn't going to take her refusals or reasoning. It was liked his decision was set in stone. Even Chie could tell that there was hardly anything that would change his mind. _"But what if… they need help? And I'm not there to do it? What if they need someone like me to watch their backs? What if Johnny needs me to help him move around, and Yosuke can't do it?"_

She couldn't just leave them to their own devices.

Chie knew that they would need her.

She didn't know how, but she knew that Johnny would rely on her for something.

"Fine. But if you're both going so am I." Chie declared to the two boys. "I still think this is a bad idea though…"

Yosuke nodded. "Alright, so let's all head to Jones and go to the Electronics Department. We can use that big TV again to go back in that world. I'll also bring a couple things to defend ourselves with. Johnny might have Tusk, but we've got nothing. I see if I can grab a bat or something like it then meet up with you guys."

Johnny nodded in agreement as both Chie and Yosuke headed for the stairs to go to class and he went to the elevator.

That TV World… It was becoming something like hope to Johnny.

Chie, Yosuke, and Tusk gave him the courage to pursue it.

He would find the answers behind that world, no matter what…

* * *

**< \--[To Be Continued |\|]**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here I wanted to establish Johnny's not exactly noble reason for helping out Yosuke. Basically Johnny is a rather selfish character, he's doing this for his own reasons rather than out of some sense of right and wrong. To him Saki got killed, and Yosuke wanting to go back to the TV coincides with his desire to find out how he was able to move his legs. It also helps that he feels indebted to Yosuke and Chie.


	6. Fall Out Boy Part 3

"This is a bad idea…" Chie mumbled out as she stood in front of the big TV in the electronics department with Johnny to her right, staring at the screen.

The three had left to Junes immediately after their last class. She wanted to see Yukiko at least one more time before she left, but her friend was still stuck helping her family at the Amagi Inn. The trio barely spoke to each other as they made their way to Junes. Chie mostly didn't say anything because she still nervous about what they were going to do. To head back into the TV World that nearly killed them because of the possibility that it might have something to do with the murders.

_"Why can't Johnny and Yosuke just tell the cops? I mean sure it might sound crazy, but at least maybe they could hear us out…"_

Oh, who was she kidding? Yosuke was right. The police wouldn't give them the time of day. The story in itself was way too ridiculous, and because of that now Johnny and Yosuke believed it was up to them to uncover the possibility and get involved. They could've shown the police proof and have Johnny or one of them stick their hand in a TV, but that gave her uncomfortable thoughts of doctors, needles and science labs trying to figure out how it was done. Even so, Chie felt like she should have put up a bigger fight and tried to convince them there was a way to figure things out without diving in the TV and endangering themselves.

But the sheer conviction she'd seen in Johnny's eyes and the look on his face when he suggested the idea to return to that strange world to investigate... she couldn't imagine finding a way to change his mind.

"We know that. You kept repeating it since we left school." Johnny remarked as he looked up at Chie, turning his wheelchair so he could face her. "Remember, we're not exactly forcing you to come with us."

"Well, it's what I really believe, so I'll say it as much as I want." Chie shot back with a small glare. She bit her lip. "But… I can't just leave you guys. I'll come, but that doesn't mean I like it…"

Right, there was the reason why she came. They might need her, they might need her to do something. Johnny and Yosuke, no matter how much she disagreed with this, couldn't be left to fend for themselves. Not when she knew she could help.

"Hey!" Yosuke voice reached Chie's ears, and she turned to see him running them with an aluminum bat a first-aid bag and a pair of big monkey wrenches in his hands. "Got our weapons and some medical supplies, courtesy of Junes' Athletic, Health, and Home Improvement Departments."

"Won't your dad get pissed if he finds out you took those?" Johnny asked curiously, causing Yosuke to shrug.

"Hopefully, we won't have to use them and I can just put them back." Yosuke answered before turning to Chie and handing her the bat. "Here, you use this."

Despite not even wanting to go, Chie felt a bit miffed that her weapon was just a bat. "Couldn't you have gotten me something a bit more, you know, deadly?"

"What? Like a sword? Fat chance. This isn't a weapons shop you know. I mean, maybe the gardening department has something sharp, but these were the best I could do." Yosuke replied before turning to the TV. "Besides, I can put these into my jacket's pocket and carry around Johnny. You can't do that, remember?"

Chie sighed in defeat as she took the aluminum bat. She hated it when Yosuke was right. Turning to Johnny, she asked, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Johnny looked back at the TV. Beyond that screen was a world where his lame legs moved again, and more importantly the answer to why that happened was most likely there as well. " _There's no time for second-guessing."_ He reached into his jacket pocket and put on the glasses that weird Mascot handed to him last time. He left them in his school bag and brought them along so his eyesight wouldn't be impaired by the fog. "Yeah, lets do this."

Yosuke nodded in agreement and lifted his right arm. "Okay, on three. One… Two…" All three of their arms then began inching towards the surface of the screen. "THREE!" Unconsciously, all three of their hands shot forward and went through the screen. Chie, Yosuke, and even Johnny let out a cry of surprise as their bodies were sucked into the TV, leaving only Johnny's empty wheelchair in front of the flatscreen.

**xxXXxx**

"WAAAA-OOF!" The cry stopped when all three teenagers hit the floor. Johnny moaned as he lifted his face from the floor by pushing himself up. "Ah man, again? Why do we have to always fall like this?"

"Owowow…. I freaking hate this place…" Yosuke groaned out while standing up. "Well, it's definitely the same place again. I guess where you land depends on what TV you enter through."

Johnny looked around as well, and saw that it was the same weird TV station as which they first arrived at. In fact, it was still covered in fog. _"It's like I can't get away from it. Just what is it with this town and this fog...?"_

"Oh man, I'm getting the creeps from this place…" Chie moaned as she scrambled onto her feet and held the bat in her hands tightly and close to her body, her eyes darting from side to side. She paused and looked back at Johnny. "Hey, can you…"

Johnny knew why she wouldn't finish her sentence. It was probably a touchy subject for her, so he couldn't really blame Chie for being unsure how to ask him if he could move his legs or not. Johnny took a deep breath, putting his hands on the floor before pushing himself up on his hands. Shaking in anticipation, he pushed himself backwards and his heart surged when his legs pushed his body up and supported him. He staggered for a moment before righting himself, the wonderful sensation of walking on his own two feet making a tingling sensation run throughout his body.

"Ha... ha ha...!" Johnny laughed happily, barely able to contain himself as he patted his legs. "I... I can really walk! This place let's me walk!"

"Ah man, that's awesome!" Yosuke grinned. Seeing the boy so happy was making him feel a little joyful as well. Even so, Johnny looked like he was straining a little in order to stand up. Yosuke placed his two wrenches in his uniform's pockets while setting the first-aid bag on the floor and quickly walked over to Johnny, slinging the American's left arm slung over his shoulders for support before the boy collapsed. "Man, this place can be freaky but at least it's good for something."

"Yeah... er, sorry about this." Johnny muttered out, looking away in slight embarrassment.

"Don't apologize, dude. It's been years since you walked, right?" Yosuke grinned. "Take your time getting used to it again."

"Right..."

"But now what do we do?" Chie asked in a frightened voice. Sure she was glad that Johnny could move his legs again, but they needed to hear this damn it! "We're stuck here until we find that freaky bear and we have no idea where we're going!"

"Thanks Chie. Your confidence is really encouraging." Johnny snarked, making Chie glare at him.

"Don't be an ass, Johnny!" Chie snapped before letting out a groan. "Why? Why did I come here…?"

Johnny knew that Chie had a point. There was literally no guarantee that the Mascot would be anywhere around here. If they couldn't find it, there was a good chance that he might eventually become exhausted and unable to defend them.

"Aw man, Chie don't do that." Yosuke sighed out before saying, "Look, we'll look around and try to find that stupid bear. Don't give up after we just got here. I'm sure that we'll eventually find that little freak…"

"Who are you calling a freak?!"

"That voice!" Johnny turned his head to see the weird bear mascot approach them, its eyes now scrunched in a comical fashion.

"I'll have you know I'm just a normal bear, thank you beary much!" The Mascot shouted, and Johnny could not help but groan internally. That was such a lame pun… "And what are you three doing back here? I thought you guys would have stayed on your side! Unless…" The Mascot then suddenly pointed at them accusingly and shouted, "I got it! You three must be the culprits!"

Despite a part of Chie being relieved that they already found the freaky bear, there was one thing he said that bothered her… "Culprits? What the heck are you talking about?!"

The Mascot then turned around, his head lifted as if in contemplation. "Recently, someone has been throwing people in here, and it's making this world more and more messed up."

"Messed up? What's that supposed to mean? This world is already messed up!" Yosuke pointed accusingly at the bear. "You're not making any sense!"

"It wasn't always like this! But thanks to whoever is throwing people in here, it's becoming worse and worse!" The Mascot shouted, and Johnny could not help but be surprised at the anger in the high-pitched voice. "This is the second time you guys have come in here, and it looks like you weren't forced in. Therefore, you must be the culprits!"

"Like hell we are!" Johnny shouted out in anger, causing the Mascot to jump in surprise. "If we were throwing people in here to be killed, why would we even come here?!"

"Yeah! Don't just go labeling us like that!" Chie agreed angrily before blinking. "Wait, did he say… someone was throwing people in here?"

"Someone throwing people in here?" Johnny muttered to himself for a moment, contemplating on what it meant. Did it mean that Yosuke's theory was right? _"But how would a murderer know about this place?"_

Unless... did they have the power to enter the TV world like the three of them?

"If someone is throwing people in here…" Yosuke spoke to both Chie and Yosuke, curiosity in his voice. "Does that mean someone threw Yamano and Saki-senpai in here against their will?"

"Sounds like it." Johnny answered with a nod. It made sense, and the Mascot's accusation was now supporting their theory. _"At least that's one mystery solved."_

"But, if someone really is doing this on purpose, doesn't that mean that they know this place will kill them?" Chie asked quietly, feeling a bit quesy talking about murders. Why did her recent conversations have to be about this? Why couldn't they just hurry this up and head back?

"What the heck are you guys mumbling about? Anyway, it wasn't beary smart to come back here. It's a one-way door! You can't come out once you get in!" The Mascot snarled at the three, continuing to glare at all of them.

"That's what you're around for." Johnny declared as he glared back at the bear. "Once we're done here, you let us out."

"No way!" The Mascot declared, crossing its arms with a huff. "I have no proof you guys aren't the culprits. The Shadows have gotten so restless ever since the person throwing people in here started. So until you guys give me some proof, I'm not letting you out."

"...You've gotta be shitting me." Johnny deadpanned, grinding his teeth and barely keeping himself from throwing himself over to throttle the stupid looking bear.

"Why can't you believe us! We aren't throwing people in here!" Chie declared as she stomped towards the bear. "If you won't let us out here I'll… I'll…!" The Mascot seemed to not be shaking in fear at the scared yet angry Chie, a far cry from what he was a minute ago.

"You'll do what?" The bear asked, visibly shaking.

"Chie, stop. It won't do any good to frighten the only person, er, thing that can get us out." Yosuke sighed out, but giving his own look of annoyance at the cowering Mascot.

"But...!"

"Look, we don't have any proof, but we're trying to find out the reason why two people are dead!" Yosuke informed the bear. "Every time the fog appears, someone dies in our world. And we think it might have something to do with this place!"

"Wait, someone dies over on your side?" The Mascot's fear was suddenly abandoned, and it just looked past Chie towards Yosuke in curiosity. "All I know is that when it's foggy on your side, the fog lifts over here. And that's when the Shadows get violent…"

"Wait, Shadows… those were the monsters that tried to kill us right?" Chie asked, turning back to Johnny and Yosuke.

"Maybe… if Yamano and Saki were thrown in here, the Shadows got them?" Johnny hypothesized, and felt Yosuke's grip on him become tighter. Obviously, he didn't like that possibility all that much.

"If the Shadows got them, then its because you guys threw them in here!" The Mascot shouted with renewed conviction. "So come clean already!"

The creatures repeated accusation caused Chie's anger to spike again.

"For the last time, we didn't do it! You're the only suspicious one here, not us! If anyone threw them in here, then it was probably you!" Chie then knocked the Mascot onto the ground with a quick kick to the back of the bear's stubby feet and turned him over. "Show us who you really are you weirdo!"

"No! Stop! Get off of me!" The Mascot shouted out, but Chie ignored his pleas. Chie then grabbed the Mascot's zipper and pulled, taking off the top of the bear costume…

…Only to find nothing inside.

"WAAAAHHH!?" Chie gasped out in surprise and horror as the bear's arms flailed around for the missing top, but nothing was inside except for other blackness. Chie crawled away backwards towards Yosuke and Johnny, continuing to stare at the headless creature. "W-what the hell?! He's hollow!"

"Dude, that's just freaky!" Yosuke shouted while Johnny just gaped at the void of nothingness that were the creature's insides.

"Just what the hell is he?" Johnny asked while the Mascot's arms began blindly searching the ground for the missing head, could it be another Shadow? But then again it wasn't trying to hurt them. "What kind of things actually live in this place?"

The Mascot's arms then found the head and snapped it on back into place, and the expression on the 'face' part was that of relief as the Mascot zippered the head back onto place. "You guys are so mean… I'm not the culprit, why would you even think that?"

"Hey bear, you accused us first remember?" Yosuke pointed out in an annoyed voice, yet he was still fascinated by the lack of biology of the bear. _"Just how does it work?"_

"Good point…" The Mascot sighed out before he looked back at the three. "Look, I'll take your word that you three grizzlies aren't the real culprits."

"Well, thank you for finally believing us." Johnny declared with an exasperated tone. Seriously, he was getting tired of being thought of as a murderer.

"But you've got to agree to find the real culprits, okay?!" The Mascot shouted while flailing his arms around. "You've got to catch them and make them stop this!" The Mascot then began to cry, comical tears flowing from his eyes. "Please! All I want to do is live a bear-tifully peaceful and quiet life!"

"Oh man come on, stop crying…" Chie muttered out, getting on her feet and looking away. Now she was feeling ashamed for attacking the bear. It obviously could not fight back, and just wanted to have his home safe again. _"I really feel like a jerk now…"_

"How can it even cry?" Johnny asked out of the blue, inspecting the bear with his eyes. It had no tear ducts, so how was it doing it? Yet despite his morbid curiosity, he also felt a tad bit sorry for the Mascot. Even if it was something freaky and unnatural, it just wanted to live in peace.

"Man, that is one freaky bear." Yosuke sighed out while the bear peeked out of his hands.

"I have no one else to turn to for help! Please promise me you guys'll catch the culprit." The Mascot pleaded to the three, giving what appeared to be puppy dog-like eyes.

Johnny sighed. Despite him not being there to solve the murder himself, the Mascot was their only means of getting out. Besides, he was helping out Yosuke and Chie by doing it anyway.

"Fine, we'll do it."

"What?" Yosuke blurted out, looking at Johnny in shock. He had been about to refuse the promise. After all, the bear had done nothing but accuse them of being the culprits from the start. But now the guy who was the least likely to show genuine goodwill agrees to find the culprit and clean up the world for some weird bear? Johnny looked him in the eyes, and the message was simple enough for him to understand.

_"We don't really have a choice."_

That's right. The bear was their only means of getting out of the TV World. Without it, they were stuck there. Sighing, Yosuke said, "Man, alright. I'm in too."

Chie smiled a bit at Johnny's promise. She knew he was a good person, even with his past. He wouldn't just leave the bear out to dry. "I guess it's really up to us to get this guy's home back to normal again… so you can count on me too!"

"Oh yes! Thank you so much!" The Mascot shouted its gratitude with a bright smile. "By the way, who are you guys?"

"I'm Chie Satonaka."

"Yosuke Hanamura."

"Name's Johnny Joestar." Johnny finished the trio's introductions before asking, "What's yours?" That caused the bear's smile to grow even more.

"Teddie!"

"Ha... figures." Johnny sighed. The puns just didn't stop with this thing...

"Come on Johnny. It's not a bad name, right?" Chie asked, noticing Teddie's slumped body.

"Oh thank you Chie-chan!" Teddie cried out as he ran towards the girl and hugged her. "You're so kind to me!"

"H-Hey come on! Get off of me!" Her eyes then widened a bit before she pushed Teddie off. "And watch where you're grabbing!"

"Owie!" Teddy cried out in pain as he got back up from lying on his round back and looked at the three.

"But, how are we supposed to find the culprit?" Yosuke asked, rolling his eyes a little at their antics.

"Well, I do know where the last person who was thrown in here went." Teddie proclaimed, causing the three to look at him in shock.

"Wait, you mean Saki-senpai?" Yosuke asked, his eagerness and anticipation palpable in his voice.

"Well, I don't know the name, I just know that she was the last person that was in here. I can take you guys there so we can try finding some clues." Teddie told the three, making Johnny and Yosuke look at each other. Turns out Teddie was more useful than just an exit.

"Yes, please. Take us there." Chie said, making the bear fidget a bit with a happy grin on its face.

"Okay, but first put these on you two." Teddie then handed Yosuke and Chie their own pairs of glasses. Yosuke's were a light orange and shaped like a stretched out hexagon, with the sides having yellow, orange, red, blue, white, green, and black stripes on them. Chie's were yellow and more rounded with the same stripes on the side.

"Wow! It's so clear!' Chie declared with happiness. With a bit less fog, the place seemed to be a lot less creepy, and the sick feeling she was getting was now gone.

"Man, I can see why you put these on." Yosuke declared before grinning at Johnny. "Alright, lets go!"

"Wait!" Johnny shouted before pointing at Teddie. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Huh?" Teddy asked curiously before Johnny pointed at his legs.

"On my side, these things don't work. But over here, I can move them." Johnny's eyes then narrowed at Teddy. "Do you have any idea why?"

"Oh, sorry. I have no idea." Teddie informed Johnny, looking a bit sad at not being able to help. "Even I don't really know the ins and outs of this world. It's just the place that I live in."

"Johnny…" Chie muttered, seeing Johnny's hands grip into fists. Was he hoping that Teddy would have been able to give him an answer? _"I'm also kind of curious though…"_ What kind of world was this, where even a resident didn't even know everything?

_"So he doesn't know…"_ No matter, he could search for more answers. Teddie probably wasn't the only source of information in this place. He would find the reason sooner or later. "Fine, then let's go."

**xxXXxx**

"Woah, this looks like the shopping district!" Yosuke declared, looking around in awe.

"It's got Aiya's and everything here!" Chie exclaimed, voicing her amazement, but the fear was also there as she seemed to grip her bat even harder as they proceeded.

"It's just like my place. Everything is here, and it's pretty much spot on." Johnny commented as the three continued to follow Teddie towards their destination, the first-aid bag in his hands (paws?) due to the mascot wanting to be 'beary helpful'.

They descended down one of the steps in the TV Station and somehow ended up in this recreation of Inaba's shopping district. There wasn't a soul in sight, and he hasn't seen any Shadows either. Johnny idly wondered if they were staying away since he took care of the last ones with Tusk. Did they take the death of their brethren as an example to not mess with them? It was a nice thought, but Johnny wasn't taking any chances.

"Well, last I saw her she went in here." Teddie declared, pointing at one store.

"Hey… this is Senpai's family's store!" Yosuke declared in shock. "So she went here?"

"Yeah, but I kinda lost her after that." Teddie admitted before shuffling his feet sheepishly. "The Shadows were beginning to get agitated so I went to go hide..."

"I guess it kinda makes sense. Saki was probably scared out of her mind so she ran in here…" Chie muttered in sympathy for the late girl.

"What's with that portal?" Johnny asked, pointing to the doorway. It was completely red with black circles that flowed to the center.

"Oh, that's just how all doors look here. Don't worry about it." Teddie said with a wave of his paw. Just as he said so, Teddie shivered and began to look fearful. "I'm smelling something beary nasty in my snout. It smells like a Shadow, but… different…"

"Different?" Johnny asked in curiosity. "What do you mean by…?"

Suddenly, several voices came out from seemingly all directions. The group of four drew close as their eyes darted around while the voices spoke.

_"I wish Junes would go under."_

_"It's all because of that store…"_

_"Oh, I heard that Konishi-san's daughter was working there."_

_"Oh my! How could she with her family business suffering like it is…?"_

_"That poor father… to have her daughter working for the enemy…"_

_"What a troublesome child…"_

"Isn't this…?" Chie knew these voices! They were the owners of the shops within the Shopping District! But did they really talk like this about Saki?

"How could they talk like that about someone just because they work at a freaking store?" Johnny spat out, remembering all the remarks others made either too his face or behind his back about his condition. He hated that, being looked down on… Those were not good memories.

"Stop this!" Yosuke shouted in anger. "Stop saying this crap!" He then turned to Teddie. "Are those coming from Shadows?"

"I don't think so. I have no idea where they are coming from." Teddie replied, causing Yosuke to click his tongue in frustration.

_"Useless…"_

"Let's just go in." Johnny spoke up, pointing to the liquor store entrance. "We're not going to find anything out staying here."

_"Oh man, I still don't like how it looks."_ Chie thought, glancing at both Johnny and Yosuke. _"It's like something out of a horror movie. Like your entering into the monster's lair where he's waiting to get you..."_ But Teddy said it was alright, even though he said he smelt something 'off'. _"But Johnny has Tusk, and if he needs help I have my bat and Yosuke has his wrenches. Come on Chie, stop being so scared!"_ Shaking her head, Chie steered herself for whatever may come next.

"Yeah, you're right." Yosuke agreed with a sigh before heading forward. "Yeah, let's go."

They then walked forward, and disappeared into the portal, with Teddie following behind them. Chie stayed behind for only a second, taking in a deep breath before stepping forward…

…and stepped into the inside of the Konoshi Liquor store.

"Wow, it really is just a door." Chie muttered as she looked around. It looked exactly like the store usually did through its window. It seemed as if there was nothing wrong inside, as if it were just the store after hours.

Yet a feeling in the put of her stomach told her otherwise.

"Hey, if your legs can really move on this side, why do you need Yosuke's help to move around?" Teddie asked curiously as Yosuke put Johnny down to sit on a barrel used to advertise a brand of liquor.

"Just because they move doesn't mean that I can just walk like its nothing." Johnny answered while his eyes scanned around the place. "It's been years since I had to walk. My muscles can't support my weight yet."

"Oh…" Teddie acted like he understood, but Johnny could tell that the bear didn't understand anything. The mascot wasn't exactly the brightest bulb in the box. Johnny then noticed something by him on top of the barrel. He picked it up and saw it was a small box of matches. "What the hell?"

"Was Saki-senpai really here before she…" Yosuke's thought as he looked around. Why? Why did she have to die here? He had to find something that could give him a clue…

Then, another voice reached everyone's ears as if it came from everywhere.

_"You know what the neighbors say about you right?"_ The voice of who Johnny assumed to be Saki's father asked. _"Aren't you ashamed of yourself? You're the eldest daughter of a family who has owned this store for generations! Is it the money? Is it some guy you're meeting there? Just tell me why you have to work THERE of all places?!"_

"Did… Saki-senpai really go through all this back home?" Yosuke muttered in shock. "Sure she seemed tired at work, but she always looked like she was having fun! Why? Why couldn't she tell me about this?"

"Yosuke… maybe she just didn't want to worry you…" Chie muttered, looking down in shame. She always knew that the relationship between the Shopping District and Junes were bad, and she even joined in a few light-hearted jabs at Yosuke's expense, but she never thought that things were this horrible!

"I know I never like to talk about my asshole of a father." Johnny agreed with a nod. The way this guy was speaking to his daughter… it reminded him about that bastard. Never happy with whatever he did. Always disapproving, never satisfied by any accomplishments Johnny made…

"Wait…" Yosuke then walked over to the desk in the center of the store an picked up what seemed to be a group photo. "This…these are copies of the photos me, Saki-senpai, and the other workers at Junes took together. But... why are they cut up like this?"

Johnny and Chie looked at the photos. They were cut all to hell, some of them were even burnt by what Johnny assumed were the matches he found. However, wherever Saki was was the only sections that were undamaged.

"Why? Why would Saki-senpai do this?" Yosuke thought to himself in horror as he set down the picture. This isn't like the girl who he asked out! Who he admired! What was this?

_"I…never had the chance to say this."_

Yosuke's head shot up, as did Chie and Johnny's. "Senpai? Is that you?"

_"I always wanted to tell Hana-chan…"_

"H-huh? Me?" Yosuke had to stop fooling himself. Saki was dead, so this couldn't be her. But he was a bit glad. It was heartbreaking to think about, but maybe this was her final message to him. Something positive that would help ease the pain that he-

" _…That he was a real pain in the ass."_

At that moment, Yosuke's entire world seemed to shatter like almost audible glass to his ears. "W-What...?"

Johnny now glared at the ceiling. _"I knew it! She really was like that!"_ He suspected it after their first meeting, but now it was confirmed! Saki was really stringing along Yosuke!

_"I was only nice to him because he was the manager's son. That's all."_ Saki's voice spat out. _"But he took it the wrong way, and that idiot thinks I actually like him! Who would even like an annoying pain in the ass brat like him?!"_

"A-An annoying pain in the ass brat…?" Yosuke whispered. This wasn't happening. Saki would never say something like that!

"Yosuke…" Chie could not help but feel pain for Yosuke too. She had her suspicions about Saki after Johnny pointed it out during their meal together, but she didn't really want to believe it. _"Is this really what she thought?"_

_"Who cares about Junes anyway? Because of that store, our business is ruined, my parents hate my, our neighbors talk behind my back…"_ Saki's voice seemed like it was now crying. _"Nobody likes me! Nothing can make my life better! I don't care anymore about them! I don't care about my parents, about my brother, about Yosuke, about the Shopping District, and especially about Junes! I wish they would all just disappear!"_

With that, the voice suddenly stopped, leaving the four in silence.

"...Teddie, just what the hell was that?" Johnny asked the bear who had been silent until now.

"I-I really can't tell." Teddie admitted with a shake of his head. "It might be Shadows, or lingering thoughts from that girl.."

"So that was really what Saki felt?" Chie asked in a saddened voice. Was it true? Did everyone have an ugly side of themselves like Johnny and Saki? One they didn't show to anyone other than themselves?

Johnny himself had different thoughts. In fact, he was beginning to feel very anxious. Something about what was happening was very familiar. The voices, this atmosphere, the Shadows... it was just like the first time they arrived here. Only they'd been at that copy of his old home, and it was him that the voices-

Johnny's eyes widened as he realized. No... it couldn't be...

"No way… that's a lie!" Yosuke suddenly shouted, denying what the voices were saying. "There's no way Saki-senpai would ever say that crap!"

**_"Sniff…I-It's just so sad…"_ **

A new voice, a distorted one, entered the three teenagers and one bear's ears. "W-who said that?" Yosuke asked out loud in fear.

**_"I just feel SO sorry for myself. Boo! Hoo!"_ **

Chie then noticed the lights of the liquor store seemed to be moving towards something, to the left corner of the store to be exact. "What the hell?"

**_"Aw man, that's rich! Truth is, I'm the one who REALLY thinks that everyone and everything is a pain in the ass!"_ **

Everyone's eyes widened as they turned to look in the direction of where the mocking voice was coming from, and Johnny's mind reeled as they spotted him.

"That's...!"

The lights had revealed a figure to them. It looked like Yosuke, but his back was leaning against a shelf of alcohol. His knees were slightly bent, but he was on his toes to make his midsection to seem like it was jutting out. His right arm was snaked towards the left side of his waste while the left hand was gripping the right shoulder, as if to mock-hug itself as a pose, with dark blue energy swirling around him.

The Yosuke copy then opened its eyes, revealing black eyes with golden pupils as it smirked cruelly at them. **_"Ain't that right, me?"_**

"A Shadow Yosuke!" Johnny hissed under his breath as he and the others observed the thing. It wasn't like his, yet it seemed to be the same. It wasn't riding anything, instead choosing to walk. But it was definitely trying to get a rise out of Yosuke.

"I-It's just like Johnny's!" Chie shouted out in horror as she saw the copy get up from its pose and begin walking towards them, or more accurately towards Yosuke.

Why was this happening again? Did it mean that Yosuke had something hidden? No, that didn't matter. What really mattered was the fact that the thing might transform into a monster like the Shadow Johnny and try to kill them all!

"Two Yosuke's?" Teddie muttered in wonder as he looked back and forth between the two. Really, they could pass off as twins if it weren't for the eyes and the feeling from within that screamed 'danger' just looking at Shadow Yosuke.

"W-who are you?" Yosuke could not stop himself from asking that question, only for the Shadow to smirk even more.

**_"I'm you of course."_** Shadow Yosuke replied with sadistic glee. **_"Which means I know everything about you."_**

"Yosuke, don't listen to it!" Johnny shouted, snapping Yosuke out of his daze and the Shadow to give a small frown. "It's just like my Shadow! It's going to try and trick you! Whatever you do, don't listen to it!"

Yosuke blinked in realization. Johnny was right! He remembered! The Shadow Johnny didn't transform into a monster until Johnny rejected it! _"I just need to keep myself from hearing whatever this thing says!"_ Yosuke then turned around, covered his ears, and began shouting, "LALALALALA!"

**_"Oh my, that just ain't cool."_** The Shadow Yosuke muttered as he began circling around Yosuke, tapping its chin in thought as the young man continued to chant out his mantra to block out any outside source. Johnny, Chie, and Teddy stood by frozen, trying to see what would happen from the new development. Would the Shadow just go away knowing its trick wouldn't work? ** _"Oh no, he can't hear me! Whatever shall I do?"_** The sarcastic 'thoughts' then made the Shadow Yosuke's frown transform into a grin. **_"Oh yeah! THIS!"_** It then cruelly punched Yosuke in the stomach, causing Yosuke to gasp out in pain before he crashed into the table. The table smashed into pieces, and the torn photos then fell on top of Yosuke as he coughed and gasped in air.

"You bastard!" Chie then swung her bat at the Shadow Yosuke's face, smashing it against his right cheek but the copy did not move. Instead, it grinned while Yosuke's face swung to the left and a bat-sized indent appeared on his cheek, causing Yosuke to scream in pain and spit out blood.

**_"Aw, ain't you just adorable, Satonaka? Trying to prove yourself after doing nothing but bitch all the way here? Sorry, but that ain't going to work."_** The Shadow Yosuke then moved the bat from his face and ripped it from the stunned Chie's hands before throwing it to the side. **_"You see, there are rules. Me and 'Hana-chan' can hurt each other, but if anything else hurts me, Hana-chan is hurt too."_**

Johnny cursed at that. _"They already have a 'rule' in place in case we try to stop them from talking? Just how prepared are these things?"_

The Shadow Yosuke then walked over to the real thing, towering over Yosuke with a smug and cruel grin on its face. **_"So Hana-chan, you willing to hear me out now?"_** Taking Yosuke's pained coughs as a 'yes', it continued. **_"As I was saying, I am you. Which means I know everything about you."_** It then grinned as it said, **_"Man, you sure had everyone fooled huh? Making them believe that you came here hoping to solve Saki's murder."_**

_"Wait, fooled?"_ Chie thought to herself. _"What does it mean by that?"_ She now noticed that Yosuke had now stopped coughing, and was looking at the Shadow in shock.

**_"Truth is all you were really doing here is looking for some fun!"_ ** The Shadow Yosuke declared, making Yosuke's eyes shoot up in fear. **_"After all, there isn't anything else to do in this backwater shithole of a town!"_**

"Looking… for some fun?" Johnny asked himself as he looked in confusion towards Yosuke. So he wasn't even trying to figure out what murdered Saki and Yamano?

**_"Sure you act all care-free and happy-go-lucky, but that's all just a lie. Truth is you're just terrified about being alone! You will act like a complete dumbass in the hope that you'll make some friends and block out the pain and isolation."_** It then pointed to Johnny and Chie. ** _"Why the hell else would you hang out with the jackass cripple and that violent bitch?"_**

"No, shut up!" Yosuke shouted out in fear, his eyes darting to Johnny and Chie who were looking at him in shock. "Stop! Don't believe his crap!"

**_"Then why are you trying to make me shut up if it isn't true Hana-chan?"_** The Shadow Yosuke then tapped its chin in thought. " ** _Unless... I really do know what you're thinking!"_** It then shrugged as it looked towards Chie. **_"Only reason you hang out with her is because you know she's the only chick who'll really give you the time of day. Others tell you to piss off, so you don't even care if she's nothing but a tomboy bitch who'll kick you around for your mistakes! Hell, the fact that she's friends with Yukiko makes it all the much better to put up with her!"_**

"Is that what he really thinks about me?" Chie whispered, looking past the Shadow and at Yosuke. He just hung out with her from time to time just because she was a girl who gave him the time of day and because she was Yukiko's friend? That was it?

" ** _And this guy…"_** The Shadow's voice was now dripping with sadism. ** _"You only decided to hang around him because he was interesting. He was from America,' land of the free' and all that bullshit. He was someone who would agree with you that this town sucked ass! Finally, someone who could share in your misery! And because he was a cripple, that made it even better! He could be the friend you so desperately craved because he probably had none!"_**

A piece of Johnny's heart stung at that statement. He knew that his Shadow said this kind of crap as well, but… " _Yosuke only hung out with me because I was pathetic enough?"_

"No! That isn't true!" Yosuke's voice was now cracking, as if he were ready to cry. Why? Why was this bastard saying these thing? Sure he had some of those thoughts, but he understood Johnny! He…

**_"And man, when you found out that he used to be a famous jockey and he lost his legs because he was trying to impress some chick, you got a kick out of that!"_** The Shadow Yosuke laughed out loud, making Yosuke's face fall in despair. ** _"At least you got the comfort of knowing someone is more pathetic than you, am I right?"_**

"NO!" Yosuke shot up and grabbed the Shadow by its collar. "You're a liar! I never thought that in my life!"

**_"And it pissed you off when he saved your ass and got that weird power-up."_** The Shadow continued as if uninterrupted. **_"You thought 'Why the hell did the cripple get the power and not me?' You wanted it too, and the fact Johnny got it instead made you so jealous that you wanted at least one chance. To prove that you weren't some helpless schmuck that needed his saving."_** It's grin then grew huge as it said, **_"And wouldn't you know? Saki was murdered the next day! Her death was the perfect excuse! You could go back to the mysterious world inside the TV, maybe even solve the mystery with Johnny providing you backup. And in the end, hey maybe you could save both his and Chie's asses and become a hero! Really, you never gave a damn about Saki or the reported murders! The only reason you came here was because you were BORED!"_**

"SHUT UP!" Yosuke shouted as he lifted his right fist and punched the copy in its face. He could have gotten his wrenches to hurt it more, but he was just too angry for the thought to even go through his mind. But the Shadow Yosuke did not react to the bodily harm, and simply grinned. "How… How do you know these things? Who the hell are you really?!"

**_"Dumbass. I'm you of course! I'm your Shadow. There isn't a single thing that I don't know about you, Yosuke Hanamura."_ **

"I said shut your goddamn mouth!" Yosuke roared out as he glared at the Shadow. "There is no way you can…"

Teddie's eyes then widened as the energy surrounding the Shadow Yosuke seemed to grow even bigger. "Danger! Something's wrong!"

"Yosuke! Don't say it!" Johnny shouted at the young man, and Chie rushed towards Yosuke in an attempt to stop him.

But it was no use.

"YOU CAN'T BE ME, YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Yosuke shouted defiantly at the copy, one that looked so much like him, while seething at utter hatred at himself. _"No! I hate this bastard! Not myself!"_

"Yosuke, you idiot!" Chie shouted before grabbing Yosuke and pulling him back, causing him to let go of the Shadow's collar as the dark energies began engulfing his copy.

_"It's happening again…"_ Johnny watched the scene while getting off the barrel, falling to the floor and crawling back. he needed to get some more distance away from the Shadow, otherwise he would probably be stomped on.

**_"HAHAHAHA!"_** The Shadow Yosuke burst into joyous laughter before it sneered at Yosuke. **_"Yeah! You're right! I'm my own self now! I ain't you…"_** It's body was then completely enveloped by the dark energies, **_"…AT ALL!"_**

Chie cpuld not help but look to see what the Shadow had become. Its lower body was like a giant camo-patterned frog with black feet. It had golden V-shaped blade in place of a mouth with jagged lines carved into the plate to resemble teeth and a pair of malicious red eyes on black stalks on top of the blade. Jutting up from the center of its back was a largely featureless elongated humanoid figure that moved like it was made of black rubber, as tall as an actual person was. A long red scarf was wrapped around its neck, and large yellow gloves covered its massive hands. The 'eyes' were simply four-starred shuriken embedded on the blackened face, appearing to double as ears.

Only one thought could go through Chie's mind.

_"Oh crap."_

"H-He just turned into a Shadow!" Teddie cried out in fear while Johnny inched back a bit more, and the Shadow Yosuke pointed towards him.

**_"I am a Shadow! The TRUE inner self!"_** Shadow Yosuke declared, its body turning towards Johnny and the others. **_"I'll crush anything that bores me! Starting with all of you!"_**

Yosuke didn't even noticed that he slumped to his knees when the Shadow spoke those words. It was almost unreal, that this big, horrible, hating thing was claiming to be him. _"Is that thing... really me? No! No it can't be! It can't be me!"_

Johnny envisioned the blue card that appeared to him a day before, and saw it hover in front of him out of thin air. Reaching out with his right hand, Johnny shouted, _"TUSK!"_ before crushing the card and making the Persona appear. It then shot forward and struck the Shadow in the center of its chest, only for it to swat it off and caused it to fly backwards. Johnny gasped in pain as he was thrown back as well, right into Teddie.

"OWIE!" Teddie cried out in pain while Johnny nursed the back of his head. He then looked towards Johnny and asked, "Are you okay?"

"Damn, just how powerful is this thing?!" Johnny asked, as he stared at the Shadow who was now crackling madly.

"It may be big, but its just comprised of smaller Shadows gathered around Yosuke's!" Teddy responded. "If you hit it enough, the Shadows should leave it!"

"Come on, Yosuke! Snap out of it!" Chie shouted at the young man, who just glared at the ground. "We need to get out of here!"

"No! That thing isn't me!" Yosuke shouted in anger and frustration. "It can't be me!"

He didn't want to believe it. That some of the things that the Shadow said were true. That he really did feel jealous about Johnny getting his power, that he hung out with Chie because she could stand him, that he started hanging out with Johnny because the guy probably didn't have any friends. But everything the Shadow said seemed so bitter, so much angrier. Was that really how he felt?

**_"You see that everyone barely tolerates you, yet you still delude yourself thinking that everyone is your friend!"_** The Shadow accused, causing the emotional roller coaster within Yosuke to get even bigger. **_"Hell, you were so bored in the boonies that you decided to ask Saki out! You never loved her! All you wanted were some cheap thrills!"_**

"Shut up! You're wrong!" Yosuke denied, only causing the Shadow to laugh even harder. That wasn't true! He loved Saki! He… he didn't ask her out just because he was bored…

Johnny clicked his tongue in frustration. He needed to move and make the Shadow focus its attention on him, and get away from Chie, Yosuke, and Teddy. But how could it do that…?

_"Wait, if Tusk can create cyclones, then maybe…"_

Maybe he could make Tusk create a low-powered and small cyclone under him so that he could move faster! It was worth a shot after all. Tusk seemed to nod at him and point towards his body. Johnny felt himself being lifted up into the air with his hands touching the ground. Quickly, he pulled himself behind several shelves before he dropped back on the floor. Peeking out the corner, he saw the Shadow now looking towards him rather than where the others were.

**_"Is this really all your going to do, Joestar? Just run away and hide?"_** The Shadow asked as it stomped towards where he was. **_"I guess I was right, you really are boring!"_**

"Tusk!" Johnny shouted while pointing towards the Shadow's front left leg. The Persona nodded and pointed at the leg as well before it was lifted off the ground, only by an inch. _"What? No! I need to put in more power into it! Come on! COME ON!"_

The Shadow seemed to notice that something was wrong with his body. More specifically, his bottom front left foot. **_"The hell are you doing?"_**

Sweat began to pour out of Johnny's forehead before he screamed "UUUUOOOO!" A burst of spinning wind then lifted up the leg, and the Shadow stumbled a bit before it fell onto its side. Right onto a shelf of alcohol bottles.

"Amazing! He used his power to cause the grizzle to loose his balance and fall onto something that could hurt it!" Teddy shouted a bit of commentary, causing Chie to glare at the Mascot. Was it seriously just going to do that?

_"But what else can I do?"_ Chie thought to herself before looking at the downed Yosuke. _"Johnny needs me, but I... I..."_

**_"Gah! You bastard! Fighting dirty because you can't do shit on your own?"_** The Shadow asked as it pushed itself backed up, now sounding pissed. **_"Why are you even helping him? He's nothing but a spoiled brat!"_**

"It's none of your business!" Johnny shot back. "He didn't leave me to die to my Shadow, and I'm not going to do let him die to you!"

**_"What a load of crap! He only did that so that he could feel like a hero!"_** The Shadow declared before the bottom part of its body lifted one of its hands and knocked down one of the shelves. **_"He thought he was going to die, so he just wanted to go out like a badass! That's all there is to it!"_**

"Crap!" Johnny shouted as he rolled to the side, avoiding being crushed by the shelf he was hiding behind…

…Only to be in the line of sight of the Shadow.

**_"Eat this!"_** As it said that, the Shadow did something strange. Its arms began to twist up. It's right arm twisted in a clockwise position while its left twisted counter-clockwise. However, both of its fingers pointed at Johnny. **_"Winds of Oblivion!"_** The arms then untwisted at high speeds, spinning and creating a cyclone that swirled towards Johnny.

"NIN!" Tusk cried out as it went in front of Johnny and created a cyclone of its own to cancel Shadow Yosuke's. But it was for nothing. The force still launched both Tusk and Johnny back into the wall hard, cracking it and causing Johnny to gasp out in pain as he fell back onto the floor.

Johnny could feel some blood dripping down from the back of his head. Did he... have a concussion? No, he was still thinking, so maybe he was just a bit scratched. But his body did hurt all over. _"I-It's like I was hit by a cannon made out of wind!"_

"JOHNNY!" Chie shouted in horror while Yosuke looked on, stunned at the display. Was Johnny… losing?

"Damn it…!" Johnny gasped out as he tried to get up, only to cry out in even more pain while bruises formed on his skin when Shadow Yosuke slammed its gloved right hand on top of Johnny. He felt several shards of broken wood and glass cut through his uniform and into his arms, making blood pour out onto the floor.

**_"Come on 'JoJo'! Is that the best you can do? I'm not even getting started yet!"_** The Shadow boasted as it looked down on Johnny. ** _"Can't believe he thought this power was awesome! It's nothing but a weak little thing that can hardly stand against me!"_**

Johnny then noticed something. It as a fallen shelf that had several unbroken bottles in it. Rum to be exact. _"Okay, I can work with this…"_

Chie looked at Johnny with fear growing in her heart. Why? Why was she sitting here helpless like a little girl? Johnny needed her! If she did nothing, he would die! _"It's because you're afraid…"_

"This is bad! Both of them are powered by wind, so 'Tusk' can't hurt that Shadow that much!" Teddy declared in panic. "And if nothing's done, Johnny'll loose a lot of blood!

This was too painful to watch. If he didn't do something, Johnny would die because of him! "Stop it you bastard!" Yosuke declared, getting up while running away from Chie and Teddie to the other side of the store, waving his arms. "It's me you want isn't it? Well, come an get me!"

"Yosuke, what are you doing!?" Chie screamed out while the Shadow turned to face him.

**_"Oh, I'll deal with you! Just as soon as I'm done with…!"_** The Shadow was unable to finish its sentence as several bottles of liquor then smashed into its face. **_"Gah! You little!"_** It then turned back to Johnny, only to see him holding up a pack of matchsticks.

The Shadow then looked up to see Tusk hovering right above it, a lit match in its hands.

**_"YOU SON OF A BITCH!"_** Tusk then dropped the match right on top of the Shadow's rum-soaked head, causing it to light on fire. **_"GAAAHHH!"_** It's human-shaped head was engulfed in flames, and the Shadow screamed in pain as its hands flailed around in an attempt to stop the fire while its bottom part stomped around, causing the ground to shake and the Shadow to stumble.

"Time to go!" Johnny declared as Tusk returned to his side and a mini-cyclone helped him move back to the entrance. Chie quickly grabbed onto his body and tugged him through the 'protal' with Teddie following behind them, the first-aid kit still gripped in his paws. Yosuke himself snapped out of his daze and followed suit, taking one last look at the burning Shadow before going outside.

All of them rushed out into the street, and Chie tripped before falling onto the ground. "Oh man, are you guys all right?" Yosuke asked as he rushed towards him, only for Chie to shoot him a glare.

"How can you ask that you jerk?!" Chie declared, pointing at Yosuke. "Was what it said true? That you only came here for fun, and you didn't really give a damn about Saki-senpai and the reporter? That you never cared about the murders? That all it said about me and Johnny were true?"

Yosuke took a step back, his eyes widening at the accusation. "N-No! It isn't! I… I just…"

"Don't you dare deny it! Johnny…" Tears began to form in her eyes while Tusk hovered close to her, patting her head as if in an attempt to comfort her. "Johnny almost died back there! Because you kept all that hidden inside! I-I knew this would happen if we returned! Why? Why couldn't we have just stayed back at Inaba?!"

"But that thing isn't me!" Yosuke denied in anger. "I never thought crap like that! I never thought Johnny was pathetic, or that you were a bitch! That's not true!"

"But it is a part of you Yosuke." Teddie said solemnly as he looked towards Yosuke. "That Shadow came from within your heart."

"I… I just…" Yosuke feebly tried to come up with something, but in the end he couldn't. His mind was blank. Wasn't it true? Johnny's Shadow did the same thing, and in the end it was part of him. Why was he denying this so much? _"Because even you are ashamed of yourself."_

"It's not just Yosuke's fault." Johnny denied after a short bit of silence as he looked at Chie dead in the eyes. "It's my fault also."

"What?" Chie asked in shock. "What are you talking about Johnny?"

Johnny took a deep breath. "It's because I…"

**_"GHHAAAAH!"_** The Shadow then burst out of the store building, its head covered in what seemed like scabs. " ** _You pain in the ass! I'm going to enjoy killing you!"_**

Johnny cursed as he pointed towards Chie, and a small cyclone formed between them. It expanded towards Chie, causing her body to be thrown lightly back to the other side of the street. "Teddy! Get them out of here!" Before Teddie could respond, The Shadow's oversized right arm grabbed his body and brought him in front of its face.

"Oh no! Oh no!" Teddie shouted in horror with his arms flailing around. "Johnny, you've got to get out of there!"

"Damn it!" Yosuke shouted before running towards the giant Shadow. "Let him go!"

**_"Oh shut up and wait your turn!"_** The Shadow shouted before swatting Yosuke with its left arm, knocking him back and causing him to crash onto Chie. As the two groaned in pain, it asked Johnny, **_"Any last words, JoJo?"_**

Johnny was scared. He didn't want to die, yet there was no way out of this. He would die here, leaving Chie and Yosuke alone, along with Teddy too. He was helpless yet again. Tusk was mimicking his damage, being unable to move and looking as compressed as he was. Some tears began to fall out of his eyes before he said, "It isn't your fault Yosuke! I'm… I'm also a selfish asshole!"

"What?" Yosuke asked, looking back at Johnny.

Even the Shadow seemed to be shocked as well. ** _"What did you just say?"_**

"I-I only came here because I just wanted my legs to move!" Johnny admitted tearfully. "I didn't care about the murders like you did! I just wanted to know… my lame legs moved here! They moved! I wanted to experience it again…"

"Johnny…" Chie could not believe her ears. Johnny didn't come here for the murders either? He just wanted to feel his legs move again? He was right. That was selfish. Yet… Chie could not blame him for it.

"Dude…" Yosuke spoke in shock. Johnny was just like him then? He wasn't some all-powerful hero? He was just as selfish as he was?

**_"You… bastard!"_** The Shadow roared as it began to squeeze tighter. **_"You're just as bad as he is! You acted all cool and high-and-mighty when all you were doing was coming here to walk again? You pathetic asshole! I'm going to enjoy seeing your head pop Joestar!"_**

"L-Look, man... we've all got thoughts like that deep down inside! It's how we cope with the shit life deals us! I know that! I know that better than anyone! Even so, I... I just didn't want to be useless anymore. I just wanted my legs to work again..." Johnny spoke, his voice pained at the admittance and by the applied pressure on his body. "And I'm sorry I dragged you all into this…"

**_"Is this truly how you wish for it to end?"_** A voice asked from within, causing Johnny's eyes to shoot open. ** _"To be killed here, never learning the answers you seek?"_**

_"…No."_ Johnny admitted. He was not ready to die yet. Not like this. If there was some way that he could survive and get out, he was willing to take it. Johnny then heard the voice chuckle in amusement.

**_"Then you are truly worthy. You are worthy to seek out the Truth. I shall lend you my aid, for I am thou as well…"_ **

Tusk then seemed to freeze, and then its body disappeared in a flash of blue light that was absorbed into Johnny's body. Another card appeared in front of Johnny, one with the same Fool symbol on it.

**_"AND THOU ART I!"_ **

The card then shattered like glass, and then something slashed the Shadow Yosuke on the wrist, causing it to let go of Johnny. But Johnny felt something catch him and lower him to the ground softly. He looked up and saw a new figure.

It was about seven feet tall and hovered a foot off the ground. Its body was clad in a long, high-collared black and gray jacket lined with silver buckles. The jacket was closed at the torso, but flared open at the waist and around its neck. Its legs were clad in armored greaves that ended in skate-like blades under its feet, while the greaves themselves seemed to have the engravings of leg leg braces on them. The tips of each of its gloved fingers were covered by steel talons. On the back of each glove was one big silver symbol of a heart. In one of those clawed hands it held a weapon like a wide-bladed naginata as long as its body, its hollowed handle wrapped in white bandages dotted with red and blue stars along most of its length. It stared at the Shadow Yosuke glowing golden eyes, the rest of its face concealed by an ornate, sectioned mask of steel. Two belt-like tails of white cloth dotted with red and blue stars was clipped into the back of the matching band it wore around its head, fluttered in nonexistent wind.

_"Izanagi…"_ A voice whispered into his mind, and for some reason, Johnny's confidence was restored. In fact, it felt renewed. Suddenly, things didn't seem as hopeless as before.

But he couldn't just stay on the ground like an idiot.

**_"What the hell? Where did that come from?"_** Shadow Yosuke asked before it was forced to dodge a swipe made by Izanagi's blade. **_"Damn! Don't get cocky Joestar! You think you're so hot because you got a new power? You're nothing! You're LESS than nothing! I'll show you! I'll show all you pains in the ass!"_** Its arms then twisted, and Johnny knew what would happen next.

"That trick…" The vision of a bolt of lighting appeared in Johnny's mind, making him point with his left hand to where the Shadow was. "…Won't work on me twice!"

Izanagi pointed as well with its left hand, and a bolt of lightning rained down from the sky right onto the Shadow.

"GHHHHAAAAA!" The Shadow screeched in pain as electricity danced throughout its body.

"Amazing! Such power! The Shadow's weak to electricity!" Teddie screamed out, glee in his voice. "You gotta hit him again!"

**_"Like I'd let you!"_** The frog part of Shadow Yosuke's body made it jump back a great distance, on top of a roof three buildings from the liquor store. **_"Try hitting me here!"_**

"Glad to." Johnny replied with a determined voice as he pointed towards the roof…

Only for Izanagi to do nothing.

_"Oh crap, is it too far away?"_ Johnny asked himself with widened eyes. _"Or does it need time to recharge?"_ This was like Tusk all over again! He didn't know the limits of this thing!

**_"Hah! Looks you can't shoot me yet!"_** The Shadow laughed out before its arms twisted. **_"Sucks to be you! I don't have that kind of limit!"_**

"Damn!" Johnny cursed out as the Shadow got ready for another attack.

**"Die Joestar! Winds of Oblivion!"** With that, the humungous whirlwind shot from the twisting limbs, and hit Izanagi dead on. Johnny yelled out in pain as he flew back onto the sidewalk, his uniform and facing becoming cut from the high-intensity wind without Tusk softening the blow. He skid on the ground while Chie, Yosuke, and Teddie were forced to cover their eyes.

Yosuke looked at Johnny. Johnny was fighting for his life against his Shadow, despite it saying and revealing such awful things. Was it this difficult for Johnny when he faced his Shadow? Watching others fight all his pent up problems and dark thoughts? _"No! No more! I'm tired of this bullshit!"_ Yosuke then walked forward, in front of Johnny and stretched out his arms.

"Yosuke, what the hell are you doing? Get back here!" Chie cried out as she looked back at the Shadow, which seemed to be paused in confusion.

"Have you gone crazy Yosuke?" Teddie asked in confusion. "Don't throw your life away!"

"Yosuke, the hell are you…?" Johnny began to ask, only for Yosuke to shake his head.

"No Johnny, this is something I've got to face." Yosuke let out a breath as he said, "You know, this thing wasn't lying. I thought all of that crap in one way or another, but I was just too ashamed to admit it. I hated moving here. I hated how dull it was compared to the city, but I wanted to make it work. I wanted to become that cool kid again, even if it meant acting like an annoying ass. Hell, sometimes even I can't stand myself."

**_"What? GAH!"_** The Shadow then seemed to clutch its head in pain at Yosuke's admittance. **_"You pain in the ass! You think admitting that will make a difference?!"_**

"No offense Chie, but I did only hang out with you at first to be closer to Yukiko." Yosuke turned to Chie, offering her an apologetic smile. "But, the more I got to know you, the more I actually liked hanging out with you as a friend."

"Yosuke…" Chie was actually touched by the admittance. Did Yosuke really like being with her more than Yukiko? Even if it was as a friend, that said a lot.

"And Johnny, I did only start trying to hang out with you because I thought that you didn't have that many friends because of your condition, and that maybe you were like me and thought 'this place sucks'." Yosuke continued, smiling sadly at Johnny. "And maybe, a part of my mind did like seeing you get taken down a peg in your memories for a second, but even I'm not that much of a bastard to relish it. I'm freaking sorry man."

Johnny just stared at Yosuke. This was literally the first time someone genuinely apologized to him. Not out of pity or sarcasm, just by being sorry for what they said (Or in this case thought). _"Thank you."_

**_"SHUT UP!"_** The Shadow cried out, its image now distorting as it thrashed around in pain. **_"STOP THIS! STOP IT NOW!_**

"Maybe a part of me did come here for some adventure, to feel like a hero. To become something like Johnny and save everyone in the end. It's true, and I'm ashamed of it. But the feelings I had for Saki were real, and that's something even you can't disprove. Because you're a part of me."

" ** _Y-YOU BASTARD! I'LL KILL YOU!"_** The Shadow then jumped off the roof and towards Yosuke, despite its body becoming more distorted. " ** _DIE YOU PAIN IN THE ASS BRAT!"_**

Johnny's eyes then glared at the incoming Shadow. This was his chance! It was weakened and blinded by rage! "Thanks for coming to me!" Johnny shouted while Izanagi shot up to meet the Shadow in mid-air, and gave it the simple command to attack.

_"WOOOH!"_ A battle-cry erupted from within Izanagi's helmet as it stabbed the Shadow with its bladed staff numerous times, somehow keeping it in mid-air before rearing back its left hand clenched into a fist. The fist impacted against the Shadow's body, smashing it back into the ground a few feet away from Yosuke before pointing at the Shadow, causing a lightning-bolt to fall and impact against the downed monster.

**_"GHHHHAAAAAA!"_** Shadow Yosuke screeched in pain for one final time before its body burst, leaving only the human form floating from the ground and staring at Yosuke expectantly.

Yosuke swallowed his fear before saying, "I may not like it, but you're me and I… am you."

The Shadow smiled in relief before it transformed into a new form. It was as tall as Yosuke was, but seemed a bit more muscular than he was. It was clad in a white bodysuit and black shoes. Its hands were frog-like, but its palms held a single golden shuriken. A blade that was like the one used as the mouth for the bottom part of the Shadow's body was now a chest guard, and its head had gained the short eyestalks, though it was otherwise the same black, shuriken-eyed ball from the Shadow. A red scarf was wrapped around its neck, blowing in an unseen wind.

"This is… my Persona…" Yosuke muttered as the Persona then transformed into a spinning card that went into Yosuke's body, causing it to glow momentarily blue. "Jiraya…"

Yosuke then collapsed onto his knees in exhaustion, causing Chie to run over. "Are you guys all right?"

"Yeah, just tired…" Yosuke replied before looking at Johnny. "You? You got beat up by him more than me."

"Nothing some painkillers, a towel, water, and some bandages can't fix." Johnny assured Yosuke with a grin. Luckily, the bleeding from his wounds have stopped He then sighed before saying, "We're a pair of assholes huh?"

"Yeah, I guess your right." Yosuke admitted with a nod. In the end, both of them came for reasons that were more selfish than right. That… kind of created some sort of weird bond between them. "Man, it really does hurt to face yourself…"

"Johnny's the one that was hurt the most, but that's both your faults." Chie joined in before sighing. "But, I'm glad you guys are safe. I'm… I'm sorry that I couldn't help though…"

"But you provided moral support with me Chie-chan! You helped plenty!" Teddie declared, causing Chie to sulk a bit. That… really didn't help. He then turned to Johnny and said, "But wowie, you were amazing Sensei!"

"Sensei?" All three of the teenagers could not help but repeat the sudden title Teddie put on Johnny.

"You are packing so much power within you Sensei! It's incredible!" Teddie declared, flailing around his arms excitedly with the first-aid kit forgotten at his feet. "You were beaten so much by that big Shadow, but you didn't back down! You kept on fighting, even when the odds seemed against you! That's why I'm calling you Sensei, Sensei!"

"Um... thanks?" That's all Johnny could say. He really didn't feel like arguing with the bear over why he did or didn't deserve the title.

Yosuke could not help but chuckle at the bear's enthusiasm. Really, it was needed after a difficult battle like this. He then blinked before looking at Johnny, this time a growing sense of worry within him. Did Johnny dislike him now because of what his Shadow said?

"Listen, about what my Shadow said…" Yosuke began, only for Johnny to shake his head.

A part of him was a bit angry about Yosuke at least admitting his condition was part of the reason he started being around him, it was nothing to truly get upset about. "You listened to my Shadow dish out my dirty laundry and still stuck around me. I'm not going to hold it against you just because of your Shadow." That caused a small smile to spread across Yosuke's face.

"Thanks man…"

"So is it really over?" Chie asked, only for Teddie to nod in confirmation.

"Yep! I my snout doesn't pick up any more Shadows around here! You and Sensei must've scared them off!"

"So we did it. Awesome." Johnny's eyes then began drooping down. Man, he was tired…

Before Johnny knew it, his eyes were full closed and he fell to his side.

"Johnny!" Chie then rushed over to his body and kneeled beside him. She saw that Johnny was breathing, and a quick check of his neck vessel assured her that his heart was beating too. "Good, he just passed out…"

"You guys are beary tired, and Sensei's hurt right now." Teddie declared, and Chie had to nod in agreement. Johnny was tired and hurt enough to pass out, meaning that he needed her now more than ever. Teddy handed her the first-aid kit, and Chie opened the bag to take out the disinfectant wipes and bandages to apply on Johnny.

_"Well, at least I'm helping him."_ With that, Chie began to wipe the wounds.

"Hey! What about me?" Yosuke cried out, only for Chie to glare at him.

"No way! That was your Shadow, so you're helping yourself!"

Teddie giggled as Yosuke groaned and wobbly went towards the three.

But despite the soreness of his legs, Yosuke felt better than he had in years.

* * *

**< \--[To Be Continued |\|]**

* * *

**Name:** **Izanagi**

**User:** **Jonathan 'Johnny' Joestar**

**Destructive Power:** **B**

** Range: **D** **

**Speed:** **B**

**Durability:** **C**

**Precision:** **A**

**Development Potential:** **A**

**Powers:**

**\- The ability to call down lightning at any location and hit any target within ten meters.**

**\- Lightning cannot hit the same location twice**

**\- After the lightning hits or misses a target, Izanagi needs five seconds to recharge.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is sort of what I was talking about with the first few fights not being my best. I was trying to ape Phantom Blood/Battle Tendency's fights... which did not work out. I guess because I was trying to imitate them too much while meshing the Persona/Shadow spells? Either way, I'm kinda considering the Shadow Johnny/Yosuke fights to be my worst, though I'm still pretty damn proud about the character moments I spread throughout this.


	7. Just Git It Together Part 1

Johnny's eyes fluttered open as a familiar, soft voice sang into his ears. _"The hell? Where am I?"_

"Welcome, to the Velvet Room." The voice of Igor reached Johnny's ears, confirming that this was indeed the place from within his dreams that were somehow connected to his reality.

"Crap, I really did pass out." Johnny groaned out as he clutched his head and looked to both Igor and Margaret, who were looking at him. Margaret showed no reaction as usual, while Igor seemed to let out an amused chuckle.

"There is no reason for you to be alarmed. Your body is still well, and is being treated by those within the world that is inside your reality." Igor said, his hands still folded in front of him. "I have seen that you have been able to acquire a new Persona."

"You mean Izanagi?" Johnny asked, making Margaret nod in confirmation.

"Indeed. From within the sea of your soul, Izanagi of the Fool Arcana has come forth. However, it came from within your soul as if it had been always there. Usually, the wielders of the Fool Arcana gain new Personas in the aftermath of battles with Shadows. Yet here you were able to summon Izanagi without that." Margaret stared at Johnny, something akin to interest flashing from within her eyes. "This is a very strange development and quite a mystery as well."

"One that will be sure to unravel itself over the course of your Journey." Igor spoke, staring at Johnny with his large eyes. "While Morpheus is the true manifestation of your heart, the proof that you were able to control the raging tide of emotions within your soul, as the wielder of the Fool Arcana, you are able to use other Personas such as Izanagi, to be the side of you that shows itself when you face the hardships of this world, a facade of determination you wear for battle if you prefer."

Johnny blinked at that. "Wait, so… I can get other Personas?"

"Indeed, for you possess the Wild Card. It is like that number zero…" Margaret looked through her book, and Johnny could spot the picture of the card he usually crushed. "…it holds infinite potential."

"A Persona is the manifestation of what's in your soul. Your heart. In turn, a heart is strengthened though bonds. The more bonds you form by getting involved with others, your Social Links will develop. These Social Links, in turn, allow you greater access and control of your soul, bringing about both new abilities and new Persona." Igor elaborated, his wide grin growing even more. "Truly, seeing you form these Social Links will be most interesting."

"Forming bonds with others? Social Links? What the hell?" Johnny asked in his mind in confusion. Was this little goblin-like man telling him to get stronger by making friends? "Who are you?"

"I am simply someone given the task of helping any guest of the Velvet Room." Igor stated without a hint of lying. "You have nothing to fear of me, Jonatha-"

"Don't call me that." Johnny snapped, halting Igor from talking further. "First you drag me in here, say that I have some sort of unique power, give me vague information, and now you're telling me I can get stronger just by making friends?"

"Forming bonds cannot be summarized as simply 'making friends'." Margaret interrupted. "There are many forms of bonds. Families, rivalry, friendship, lovers… all these are Social Links. Each one of these, if gained and maintained through personal investment and a feeling of companionship between the two parties, will bring you ever closer to finding the Truth."

Johnny was now starting to get pissed. They were saying these 'Social Links' would bring him closer to 'The Truth', but didn't say what he was looking for! "Truth? What truth? Is this about the murderer? You guys know who it is, don't you!?"

"Unfortunately, it is not within our duty to help you beyond what we give you." Igor informed Johnny with a shake of his head. "However, you may ask any questions you have, and we can answer them the best we can."

Johnny sorely wanted to grind his teeth in annoyance. So they were neither confirming nor denying that they knew who the murderer was, or what was the supposed 'Truth' he was looking for. _"Might as well get an answer out of them for that…"_ "What the hell is up with that world? How can it let me walk?"

"That world within… think of it as a gateway into other people's hearts." With a wave of his hand, he motioned to Johnny's legs. "It also gives desires and inner thoughts form."

"So I can move them, because I always wanted them to move?" Johnny asked, and Igor neither confirmed nor denied his statement. "Then… I'll never be able to move them in the real world?"

"If you give up then of course no progress will be made." Igor said with a grin. "But perhaps if you grow strong and have people to support you, some of your deepest scars may have a chance to heal."

"What the hell does that mean?"

Johnny then noticed that the limo slowed to a stop, and Margaret was now looking outside the windows. "Oh my, it seems we have a visitor in this foggy road."

"Then we must meet them." Igor spoke, delight in his tone before he looked to Johnny. "I'm afraid this is where we must depart. Until we meet again…"

Before Johnny could ask anything else, or deny being forced out before he got the answers he desired, Johnny felt his eyes grow heavy before they completely closed.

* * *

**xxXXxx**

Chie wiped the back of Johnny's head gently with the clean cloth partially soaked with disinfectant, wiping the blood off of Johnny's hair while Yosuke and Teddie stood back and watched. Johnny's now ruined hat was next to his head, torn and bloodied from the battle and taken off so that Chie could give a closer inspection to the blow on Johnny's head. The other wounds that Johnny had sustained had been bandaged up, and luckily Chie knew how to do bandages correctly from bandaging herself of any minor injuries she sustained during personal training. _"I just wished that he wasn't unconscious…"_

"Is Sensei going to be okay?" Teddie asked in a worried voice, only for Yosuke to knock on the top of his head.

"He's not dead. He's just exhausted." Yosuke then looked at Chie. "Right?"

"He's still breathing, and other from his wounds he seems fine." Chie answered. "But honestly I'm not a doctor. I have no idea what that hit to the head did to him."

Yosuke looked glumly at the floor. _"If only I had accepted it earlier, then Johnny wouldn't be like this."_ It was a naive way of thinking, but at the same time it is true. That monster only came out because he would not accept his hidden self, his ugly self. It was all his fault in the end.

"Ugh…" Johnny groaned out as his eyes fluttered open, causing Chie to gasp out in shock as the young man sat up. "Man, my head is killing me…"

"Don't move too much Johnny!" Chie shouted, pointing towards his head. "You got a real nasty gash to the back of the head! If you move too much, then it might start bleeding again."

"But Chie-chan, the wound scabbed over already." Teddie interjected, making Chie blush in embarrassment. "I don't think he'll be hurt that much if he moves around now."

"How do you know that?" Yosuke asked curiously to the bear. "Aren't we, like, the first humans you ever talked to?"

"Hmmm…." Teddie groaned out, scratching the back of his ears in thought. "I… really don't know. Something in my noggin is just telling me that. It's beary weird…"

Johnny looked over himself. His uniform was a mess. His hat was torn up a bit with a few dirt and bloodstains here and there, resting on his lap. His sleeves were torn up and bloody, with white bandages wrapped over them. Some bandages were even on the palms of his hands, and now that he looked at it several other minor cuts and light bruises were on his body. Not to mention the back of his head throbbed in dull pain, and his muscles were a bit sore. But other than that, he felt relatively okay enough to operate.

"Which one of you guys fixed me up?" Johnny asked, turning to his two classmates.

"Oh, that was me." Chie stated with a raised hand, causing Johnny to look at her. "Well, Yosuke would probably screw up with the bandages, and I don't think Teddie can handle this kind of stuff. So I just wanted to help you. S-Sorry I couldn't offer any more help…"

Johnny could not help but feel Chie's desire to help him, and her disappointment in not being able to do more. It's like the felt helpless for not being able to do more than fix him up after the battle. "Relax. You being able to do this is enough."

"See Chie-chan! I told you not to worry! You did your part perfectly in helping Sensei by giving medical and moral support!" Teddie sang out happily, making Chie laugh nervously.

"B-But still!" Chie suddenly shouted, glaring at both Johnny and Yosuke. "It was stupid of both of you to come here just for that! What if we got killed? Why didn't you just tell me so I could kick both of your asses for being so stupid?"

"Well, it was kinda something even I didn't want to admit." Yosuke sighed out, scratching the back of his head. "I thought myself that I came to find out why Saki-senpai was killed. I really believed that. But I guess… a part of me really did just want to seem like a hero in this weird place. And I… I'm really sorry for dragging both of you into it."

"Don't blame yourself. I'm the one that shot out the idea first remember?" Johnny asked, but that didn't take away the guilt from Yosuke's face. "I just wanted my legs to move, and you still actually cared enough to try and find whoever murdered Saki. I just used it as an excuse, and I'm the one who pushed Chie to come along."

Yosuke looked at Johnny, into his eyes even. _"He's really sorry about this. He actually believes this is all his fault…"_ Why? Why was he blaming himself for all of this? "Alright then, I guess it really is both of our faults." He then turned to Chie and said, "Sorry Chie. Can you forgive us?"

Chie was momentarily taken aback by the apology. She… never really expected Yosuke to be ever truly apologetic. Usually he gave apologies half-heartedly or out of desperation to avoid one of her more physical shows of anger. But both he and Johnny were asking her for forgiveness. She couldn't find it in herself to stay mad at them when they were both being so sincere.

"Fine… I forgive you." She then turned to Johnny and said, "And remember what I said! If you never need anyone to talk to, just tell me! Maybe then I can help you stop from doing something stupid."

Despite himself, Johnny could not help but grin as he threw his now useless hat to the side. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

***SMASH***

Johnny almost jumped in shock at the sound of breaking glass. Everything and everybody seemed frozen as a mysterious voice rang out.

**Thou art I… And I am thou…**

"What the hell?" Johnny breathed out as he looked everywhere for the source of the mysterious voice.

**Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Chariot Arcana…**

Wait, Chariot? What did that mean?

**Thou hast established a new Social Link…**

**It brings thee closer to the truth...**

**Jonathan 'Johnny' Joestar has established the Social Link: Chariot with Chie Satonaka…**

_"Social Links? Aren't those the things that Igor guy was talking about?"_ It didn't make any sense! Did these things just form whenever he just had a heart-to-heart talk to someone? Was this like manipulation of both him and whoever he was forming Social Links with? _"Just what the hell are Personas, really?"_

Then, time seemed to resume as normal. He saw Chie, Yosuke, and Teddie moving, even show signs of breathing.

"Anyway, I'm glad you were here, man. If you weren't, I'd probably be a smear on the ground." Yosuke spoke up with a grateful smile.

"Why are they acting like nothing happened?" Johnny asked himself before questioning, "Didn't you guys see that?"

"See what? What are you talking about Sensei?" Teddie asked, and Johnny looked to both Chie and Yosuke, who were also giving him puzzled looks.

They didn't know what the hell he was talking about.

"…Nothing, forget it." They obviously did not see anything, and it was very likely they wouldn't believe him even if he told them. What he just felt was something one had to experience for themselves. Plus, Johnny wasn't sure he could describe it very well either. Deciding to change the subject, Johnny turned to Teddie and asked, "Hey, did Saki and the announcer lady get attacked by their own Shadows too? It happened to me, and now it happened to Yosuke… Does that mean it happens to anyone who enters this place?"

"Ugh, don't say that. Makes me think my own Shadow is going to pop up at any moment…" Chie complained as she shivered. What if she did have a Shadow? What if it did come out? _"No, it can't. I have nothing to hide or be ashamed of. It'll never show up… right?"_

"I think so. Shadows are born from people's the fog clears, the Shadows go berserk. A strong-willed Shadow forms and gathers other Shadows to it, and they attack everything around it." Teddie looked glumly at the floor. "I get scared when that happens and I go hide. I tried to warn the other two about it, but they were so scared that they ran away faster than I could follow."

"Teddie, don't beat yourself over it. You did the best you could." Chie comforted the mascot, while Yosuke looked down. So that was why they died? Because of their other selves?

"Saki-senpai…"

"So why are these places in here?" Johnny asked in confusion. "I mean this shopping district, that apartment building, my old place…"

"Well this world is reality for people who enter. I think it changes to people's thoughts and whatever they find familiar." Teddie looked back towards the liquor store in thought. "But that's what I think. This never happened before until recently. Before it was… It was… hmmm…" Teddie then stopped and hummed to himself, as if he were trying to remember something. It confused Johnny. If this world wasn't supposed to be like this, then what was it like before?

Suddenly, Yosuke groaned and stumbled a bit, snapping Teddie out of his thoughts. "Oh! You guys can't stay around here any longer! This world isn't meant for humans. So let's go back."

"I'll be fine." Yosuke said, righting himself and stepping forward. "Come on, dude." Yosuke then reached out to Johnny with his right hand.

"You sure?" Johnny asked as he looked Yosuke up and down. "You're kinda beat."

"Not as beat as you." Yosuke shot back with a grin. "My Shadow knocked you around pretty good, so I can do this much at least."

Johnny stared at Yosuke for a moment. This was truly a new thing for him. People truthfully helping him out for more than pity. More than just feeling sorry for the fallen famous person turned cripple.

"Yeah, thanks."

* * *

**xxXXxx**

"'He was a real pain in the ass' huh? Man, what a way to find out…" Yosuke groaned as both he and Johnny sat on the floor of the TV Station platform which they arrived on with Chie. It had only taken a few minutes and a trek up a flight of stairs to reach. While their muscles did feel tired, they were not as exhausted as they were before. Johnny could actually note that his bruises were slowly but surely growing smaller.

"Well, there are worse ways of finding out." Johnny stated matter-of-factly, causing Chie to give him a weird look.

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"Her actually saying that crap to his face."

"I'm sure that if she had the chance, Saki would've said it a bit better." Yosuke informed Johnny with a sigh. "But… those probably were really thoughts that Senpai was keeping down inside." Yosuke then looked at both Johnny and Chie with an utmost serious expression on his face. "Okay, let's get some things straight. Senpai and Ms. Yamano were thrown in here, and since they couldn't get out they wandered around and after a while, their Shadows came out like Johnny and mine's. The fog cleared, the Shadow went berserk, and then it killed them right?"

"Sounds about right." Johnny agreed with a nod. His eyes then widened. "Wait, wouldn't that fog have come back after the rain? If we went after it stopped raining then…"

"Oh crap you're right!" Chie exclaimed in fear. "If we had gone inside when it was foggy, then there would have been even more Shadows that would be pissed off!"

"Phew, I can't believe we dodged a bullet like that…" Yosuke groaned out, thanking his often minimal luck for once in his life. "But I can't believe it… Senpai and that announcer were stuck here all alone… and no one could have saved them…"

"We couldn't have known Yosuke. We were just as clueless as you were." Chie tried to comfort Yosuke, only for him to shake his head.

"And to think, a part of me was a dumbass that just wanted to not have a boring life anymore by coming here." Yosuke gave a bitter laugh at that. He then looked at Teddie and asked, "Hey, Ted… were Saki and Yamano safe before the fog lifts over here? I mean, were the Shadows not attacking them before then? You said it's only when the fog lifts that they get agitated."

"Well, Shadows are always agitated, but they get really, REALLY worked up when the fog lifts." Teddie said. "Normally they don't bother anyone if you don't get close, which is probably why those two from before weren't attacked at first, but they were here too long and when the fog-"

"You don't have to finish that sentence. We get it." Yosuke interrupted, grimacing as he tried to get the image of a helpless Saki out of his head.

"Well, at least it should be better with you guys here!" Teddie smiled. The three teenagers stared at the bear, puzzled. At their perplexed looks Teddie gestured to Johnny and Yosuke. "Sensei and Yosuke can fight Shadows, can't they? You all can enter this world for some reason, so if someone is thrown in, you guys can come and get them!"

"Holy… that's right!" Yosuke exclaimed as realization dawned on the three of them.

"Yeah… with our Personas we can fight Shadows, and with Teddie around we'll be able to get them out safely through your exits. And with them gone, the Shadows would disappear right?" Johnny questioned, which made Teddie frown.

"I'm not too sure about that. There might be some Shadows lingering in the environments formed within this world, but maybe over time…"

"Our first priority should be to find the guy who's throwing people in there and make that bastard stop." Yosuke stated, closing his eyes in pain. "This isn't about me trying to become a hero anymore, or me looking for something that'll make my life less dull. I want to catch this guy, because I can't leave this alone. Not when I have the power to stop it."

Johnny sighed and scratched the back of his head. Looks like Yosuke was still going to try and go through with this. _"But… he seems really serious about it this time."_ This statement seemed to have more power than what he declared at the school. As if it were fueled by true determination and emotion, while the previous one seemed to be driven simply by emotion. _"And I can't leave him to do this on his own."_ Johnny would never forgive himself if he hung Yosuke out to dry. Despite what the Shadow said about him, Yosuke was still one of the few able to stand him, even after he heard everything about Johnny through his Shadow. _"Plus, maybe I can find more answers about this world if I keep coming here."_

"Alright, well… I can't let you go at it on your own. Count me in."

Yosuke smiled in appreciation while Chie looked back and forth between Johnny and Yosuke. " _They are seriously planning on chasing this guy? For real this time?"_ She understood that both of the boys were probably reeling from both revelations and admittance. They seemed to have had an epiphany, so much that Yosuke and Johnny were actually going to try and find the murderer. _"They aren't scared anymore… they aren't second guessing themselves… so they're really going to do this?"_ Chie then looked to Teddie, who was looking at her expectantly. That's right. Whoever was pushing people in was also wrecking the bear's home. He had nobody to turn to except her and the guys. _"I can't just leave this alone. This guy, Yosuke, and Johnny are counting on me…"_

"Alright. I'm in too. I can't ignore this crap. If you guys are seriously going to try and find this creep, then I'm coming with you."

"You sure?" Johnny asked. "It'll probably get even more dangerous from here on out, especially if we're trying to find a murderer."

Chie huffed and clenched her hands into fists. "Don't talk me out of this! I'm not going to walk away from this, and when I find this creep I'm going to launch him to the moon!"

"Woah, you sure have a lot of energy Chie." Yosuke cracked with a grin. "Alright… thanks guys."

"Hey… Can I ask you guys something?" Teddie questioned, making the three turn to him. "If Shadows are born from humans, then what am I?"

"Wait… do you seriously have no idea what you are?" Johnny asked, making Teddie shuffle his feet in embarrassment.

"But don't you live here? How can you not know who you are?" Chie agreed as Teddie looked down.

"Yeah, if you don't even know who you are, then how would we know?" Yosuke asked out loud, and Teddie lifted his head to look at all three.

"Well, I know stuff about this world, but I have no idea what I am." Teddie confessed, causing the three teenagers to look at each other. Was he really serious? "I honestly didn't think about it until you guys and Sensei showed up."

"No wonder we couldn't get a straight answer from you…" Johnny grumbled to himself. That would definitely hinder things if he tried to get explanations out of Teddie.

"Will you guys come back here?" Teddie asked, making Chie kneel down and place her hand on his head, flashing him a smile.

"Of course! We made a promise didn't we?" Chie asked, making a small blush form on Teddie's 'cheeks'.

"T-Thanks guys…" He then stamped his foot, and a row of TVs appeared behind him in a puff of smoke. "Alright, you guys can get out of here. But I'll be waiting for you right here. You need to enter in the same place for us to meet up."

"Wait, so the TV at Junes is our gateway?" Johnny questioned, only for Teddie to shake his head.

"Well, you could enter through other places, but you wouldn't end up here." Teddie answered truthfully, causing all three of the students to nod. That made sense. After all, different doors (Or TVs in this case) led to different places. "I don't think you would like getting lost, Sensei. If you got to somewhere that I can't reach you, you'd be DOOOMED!"

Yosuke groaned at Teddie's melodrama. Seemed like the bear wouldn't stop being the most lighthearted of the group. Instead, the three students went close to the TVs. "Alright, first we need to make sure that the coast is clear so we don't freak out any customers…"

Teddie would have none of that, because he wobbled up behind them and began pushing. "Alright, enough jibber-jabber! Off you go! Squish!"

"Hey! Quit pushing!"

"Stop moving damn it!"

"Gah! It's so cramped an- HEY! WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT YOU TOUCHING ME THERE YOU WAAA-!?"

* * *

**xxXXxx**

"-AAA-OOF!" With another shout of shock before letting out a grunt of pain, the three Yasogami students landed in front of the TV. Johnny opened his eyes and looked up to see that as he laid face-down, his back was arched in a way that his legs and feet dangled just above his head. _"I swear, that damn exit is just messing with us now."_ He lifted his arms and pushed back on his feet, making his legs flow onto the ground. Johnny then turned his head to see Chie next to him, lying on her back and groaning a bit in pain. Johnny then looked to his left to see Yosuke was face-down like him, but with his face smashed against the floor and his ass comically sticking up.

"Hey, are you guys okay?" Chie asked as she lifted herself from the ground.

"Oh yeah, just peachy." Johnny replied as he grabbed onto the seat of his wheelchair and pulled himself up. Chie rushed to his side and helped to keep the chair in place while Johnny moved his body to sit down correctly on the seat. Johnny slightly grimaced in pain as his wrist and head wound began to throb in pain. _"Why can't this crap go away like the bleeding in that place?"_

"Man, I'm beginning to hate that bear." Yosuke complained as he pushed himself up. "But, at least we got out okay."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Chie said, smiling in relief as all three of them began taking off their glasses. She truly meant that. Despite all her doubt, they had been able to return back to Junes safe and sound again. _"Well, that isn't true…"_ She looked at Johnny. More importantly, she looked at his wounds. He was the one who got hurt for them, who fought to protect their lives while all she did was stand in place being useless. _"No, that isn't true! Without me, he wouldn't have his wounds clean!"_ That little fact alone brought some peace to Chie's mind, but a part of her wanted to do more. To have had both Yosuke and Johnny being able to rely on her back in that world…

"My clothes haven't gotten out okay." Johnny pointed out, motioning to his torn uniform and wrecked hat. Yosuke could not help but grimace. That was definitely a problem Yosuke could not help but feel responsible for. After all, it was his Shadow that laid the damage on Johnny.

"You can't go home like that!" Chie shouted, worry now showing on her face. "If your uncle sees you then… then…!"

Johnny nodded in agreement. His uncle probably would first freak then demand answers for both his bandaged wounds and wrecked clothes. He needed to do something about it, because this time a jacket swap with Yosuke wouldn't cut it…

"Wait! I know! Let's just buy a new uniform!" Yosuke declared, a big smile appearing on his face. "I just remembered that we got a big order from our school, full of uniforms of all sizes! If we just buy a new uniform Johnny's size…"

"He can change and go home without his uncle telling the difference!" Chie finished, relief now filling in her. It made sense! The school probably thought that it would be a smart idea to sell their uniforms within Junes to make a profit from all students who need a spare. Now they could use that to their advantage!

"But maybe Dojima will notice the new uniform." Johnny butted in, making them turn to him. "My hat's wrecked, and I'll need to buy a new one if I want to hide my head injury. He could notice my clothes are new…"

"What? Are you sure you aren't overcomplicating this?" Yosuke asked, only for Johnny to shake his head. Despite what he said, Yosuke could see where Johnny was coming from. What they did was dangerous, and they could never let anyone know about it. "Fine, but then what? You can't go back in rags."

"Maybe if Johnny bought some casual clothes and wore those, he could have the excuse that he just went clothes shopping with us…" Chie muttered out in thought, only to notice both boys looking at her in surprise. "W-What? It's just a thought!"

"No, that could actually work!" Yosuke shouted, a smile forming onto his face. "I mean, your uncle won't get suspicious if you just say that you were hanging out with us and stuff right?"

Johnny thought about it for a moment. It was true that Dojima would back off on any suspicions he had about his new clothes if he said he had gone out with Yosuke and Chie. Why would he be suspicious of that? "Okay, but I'll have to buy some other stuff to put over the uniforms."

"Dude, that won't be a problem." Yosuke stated with a grin. "Junes has a bunch of different clothes in the apparel department. Just pick, choose, and change in the changing room. So long as we buy them, it won't be a problem. Plus, it's just a bit away from here."

It didn't take them long to reach the clothing section of the store. There weren't a lot of customers around, so nobody really noticed Johnny's state of being. Well, it kind of helped that Yosuke and Chie blocked him from view by standing at his sides. _"At least a store like this doesn't have bad taste."_ Johnny thought to himself as he picked a T-Shirt off the rack. It was a simple white one with a pink stripe going from the pink collar to the bottom of the shirt.

"I don't mean to rush you or anything, but people are starting to look at us." Yosuke whispered to Johnny, only to earn a glare from Chie.

"Well maybe if you didn't look so nervous they wouldn't feel like we're hiding something!"

"Me being nervous? You're the one who looks scared out your mind!"

"Why you…!"

"Would you both relax? I'm going to grab some pants and go to change." Johnny interrupted, mildly amused by the two bickering. With that, Johnny rolled himself over to the pants area and grabbed a pair of blue cargo pants that matched his size. After all, it was important to look as 'casual' as possible to Dojima. While normally Johnny would have picked something a bit more… well… stylish, he didn't have the time to spend an hour or two looking through pants brands.

"Wait, we need something that can hide your wrists from view. Otherwise your uncle will probably still freak." Chie began, before realization struck her. "Wait, I know just the thing!" With that, Chie ran off to another portion of the apparel section out of Johnny and Yosuke's view.

"Won't you need to scan this stuff?" Johnny asked Yosuke, who shook his head.

"Nah man, we just need to pay the exact price of the clothes before we get out. Don't worry, I'll think of something to let whoever's on cashier duty to allow it." Yosuke informed Johnny, and while Johnny nodded in appreciation Yosuke still felt the knowing feeling of guilt inside of him Was Johnny blaming him as well, but not saying anything for his sake? "Hey, I gotta ask… are you mad at me? I mean, for the crap my Shadow said."

Johnny looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Didn't we already talk about this back in the TV World?"

"I know, I just…" Yosuke sighed out, trying to get his thoughts straight. This wasn't easy, revisiting those painful truths that his Shadow laid bare. "I mean, at least you had a better reason to go into the TV World. I just went because I wanted to become some sort of hero. You just wanted to have your legs move again."

"We're still equally selfish assholes though." Johnny informed Yosuke. "We both just wanted to fulfill some sort of desire, and Chie got dragged into this crap because she believed that we were really going to try and avenge Saki and that announcer by trying to find out why she died. My reason is just as selfish as yours. I won't hold it against you."

Yosuke let out another sigh as he scratched the back of his head. As he did that, Johnny began moving to the hats section and picked up a blue wool cap with a yellow star stitched onto the front. Yosuke could not help but idly note that it was a Speedwagon Corporation product, a trusted American corporation that had a hand in clothes, technology, cars, and made several scientific achievements. It was famous even in Japan.

_"No come on, focus."_ Johnny was right in a sense. They were both selfish, and in the end that was all that mattered. Reasons did not matter, just the simple fact that they came for their own causes under the pretext of 'justice'. " _Still, I can't walk away from this, not after what Teddy said."_ Now Yosuke was really curious. Was whoever pushed Yamano and Saki aware about how the TV World changed with their hearts and brought out their Shadows to kill them? Was the murderer just like him, Johnny, and Chie? _"I gotta find out, not because I want to be a hero, but because…"_

"Got them!" Chie's voice interrupted his train of thought, causing both men to turn to see the girl with a pair of arm-warmers in her hands. They were big enough to cover almost half of Johnny's arms, and covered in red and blue stripes. "Thought these suited Johnny the most, so I grabbed them. Hope this helps."

"Yeah, thanks." Johnny thanked Chie as he took the arm warmers and placed them on his lap with his other clothes. His eyes then spotted something that quickly grabbed his interest.

Golden pins.

Not just any golden pins, but pins shaped like symbols ranging from a peace sign to a heart in various sizes. They were the kind of pins one attaches onto their clothes in order to make them seem either cooler or more stylish. Usually, girls did that but some guys like Johnny put them on to make even casual clothes look better than before. _"Maybe I can put them on my uniform…"_ After all, Yasogami's dress code was kind of lax. So long as they had the uniforms' pants and another piece of the uniform, students were able to make alterations however they wish. Yukiko's red sweater, Chie's jacket, and Yosuke's headphones were proof of that rule being used already.

"Uh, are you okay?" Yosuke asked, only for Johnny to wheel himself over to the pins and shoot his hand forward, grabbing about four three-inch big gold heart-shaped ones and also a handful of several one and a half-inch horseshoe-shaped pins. "Woah! Dude! Don't you think you should hold off on getting those?"

"Yeah, they are kinda expensive…" Chie included, only for Johnny to reach into his pocket and pull out his wallet. In a flash of motion, Johnny had several yen notes in his hand before he handed them to Yosuke.

"Here, use this to pay for the clothes and pins." Johnny spoke while Yosuke brought the money to his eyes.

"Dude, just how loaded _are_ you?" Yosuke asked in an exasperated tone, only for Johnny to look at him blankly. Yosuke then remembered the fact that Johnny's family was supposed to be rich and said, "Oh, right. Sorry."

"Don't be. Don't really care about money anyways." Johnny replied with a shrug. "You want more? It can cover the bat and first-aid kit…"

"Nah, don't worry about it. It'll just put a dent in my paycheck. I can live with that since I, you know, got to live thanks to you." Yosuke replied with a grin.

Johnny nodded in acceptance. After all, this was Yosuke's choice and not his. "Alright. Be back in a few minutes." With that, Johnny turned to the direction of the changing area and pushed himself forward.

Yosuke nodded before looking back at the money. "Man, at least I know who to go to if I need to borrow some cash."

Chie glared at him for that. "Don't even think about it Yosuke."

Yosuke chuckled nervously at the glare. "Come on Chie, I was just joking. Jeez…" Chie just huffed and turned away. "A-Anyway, let's just pay for Johnny's stuff! We can get that out of the way before he buys the spare uniforms!"

"Alright then, let's go." Chie then walked forward, with Yosuke following behind her. "But you owe me an order of nikuman if you want me to keep quiet about what you just said." That caused Yosuke's shoulders to slump.

He just could not catch a break.

* * *

**xxXXxx**

It did not take Johnny long to change into his new outfit, and even shorter grabbing about three new school uniform and put them in a bag over his wrecked one, with the pins in a separate bag over the new uniforms to keep them out of Dojima's sight. Sure, it sounded overcautious since Dojima might still be out late to handle the murder, but Johnny wasn't going to take any chances.

_"After all, people who are careless are usually caught by the cops in crime shows."_

"Man, this rain won't let up." Chie groaned out as she, Johnny, and Yosuke rolled down the Junes parking lot to head back into the shopping district. She had her jacket wrapped in a bundle under her left arm while her right carried the umbrella, most likely to hide any bloodstains her jacket got from him. "And my mom wants me back soon, so…"

"Yeah, I gotta head home too. I'm beat." Yosuke sighed out before looking at Johnny. "I'm going to go home, take a shower, and sleep this off. But you know what? I feel like I'm going to sleep a bit better tonight…"

"Because you got some peace in mind?" Johnny asked, making Yosuke shake his head.

"Nah man, it's because I know what I'm going to do now." Yosuke answered, his eyes narrowing in determination. "I know that we now gotta find this bastard who threw Saki-senpai and Yamano into the TV World. I know that we got to stop him, and when we find him, we force him to go to the police and pay for his crimes."

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find him." Chie said with a smile on her face, causing him to grin.

"You know Johnny…" Yosuke then stared right at Johnny. "For some reason, I feel like with you around, we'll be able to catch this guy." He then raised his right hand and stuck it out to Johnny. "I'm counting on you, man."

Johnny just stared at the hand. Yosuke's trust in him surprised Johnny for a second. Yosuke truly believed that with Johnny, they would be able to end the culprit's schemes. That they could put an end to the murders…

It… was kind of heartwarming, not that Johnny would ever admit to it.

"Don't worry. I'll do my best." Johnny then reached out with his own right and grabbed Yosuke's hand, shaking it.

***SMASH***

The familiar sound of breaking glass reached Johnny's ears.

**Thou art I… And I am thou…**

_"This again?"_

**Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Magician Arcana…**

_"Magician this time? Not Chariot? What do those mean?"_ Johnny thought to himself while the mysterious voice continued.

**Thou hast established a new Social Link…**

**It brings thee closer to the truth...**

**Jonathan 'Johnny' Joestar has established the Social Link: Magician with Yosuke Hanamura…**

Time the proceeded as normal, as Johnny found out when the raindrops began falling again and Yosuke shook his hand a few more times before letting go.

"Alright, well we'll see you tomorrow Johnny!" Chie shouted as she began running away, waving back a Johnny with a smile on her face while Yosuke gave him a parting grin before walking away as well. Johnny looked back at his right hand, contemplating on what had happened.

_"Went back to the TV World, got my legs to move again, got my ass kicked by Yosuke's Shadow, won out of sheer luck, met those two weirdos in my dreams again, formed 'Social Links' with Chie and Yosuke, and made a promise to a bear to find a murderer."_ With that last comment, Johnny gave a wistful sigh with a small smile on his face.

He probably wouldn't have had to deal with half this shit if he was still back in America. Even so, and despite everything that happened, part of him was really anticipating what would happen in the months to come.

* * *

**< \--[To Be Continued |\|]**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dealing with the aftermath of fights are just as much fun as the fights themselves, if not more so. Because I'm able to get the characters to just bounce off one another naturally. Something I think is incredibly important with the Persona series.


	8. Just Git It Together Part 2

Yukiko Amagi sighed as she sat down, her legs relaxing as she sat under the gazebo in the floodplains while the rain poured outside. She had missed so much of school today, all because she had to help her family run their inn with the recent influx of tourists. While Yukiko was happy that the business was going well despite the recent murders, she could not help but be annoyed that she had to always leave school early or not go at all because her family and their workers needed an extra pair of hands.

The school understood though and she was given clemency for her occasional absence. Her grades weren't dropping because her family needed her help with the inn. Yasogami High was actually well-connected with the community, and thus gave Yukiko 'privileges' for being the 'next owner' of Inaba's main tourist attraction. Some of the teachers had reservations, the most outspoken of which was unsurprisingly King Moron, but in the end they didn't have any problems granting her a little leniency given that the inn did generate a lot of business.

Even the school was depending on her to help take care of the inn…

Yukiko shifted her body a bit to make the pink floral kimono she was wearing be slightly more comfortable. She didn't have time to change when she went out to do some errands for the inn. Sometimes, Yukiko felt like she spent more time in a kimono rather than in regular clothes. _"Will I have to wear these all the time if… no,_ when _I run the inn?"_ Yukiko knew her mother did, for the manager needed to keep appearances up.

But one good thing came from this trip. Today, Yukiko wasn't bombarded by questions by newspaper reporters or that awful TV reporter from earlier. They probably didn't want to get wet from the rain.

Yukiko then spotted a lone figure on a wheelchair pushing himself down the pathway. It only took a second for Yukiko to register that it was the new transfer student from America, Johnny Joestar.

_"I wonder what he's doing here…"_ Yukiko thought to herself. She didn't see Johnny going out that much. After all, Chie had to practically force the American to go with them.

While admittedly she was a little uncomfortable around him and he could be a little curt, Yukiko wouldn't let that stop her from being polite to a classmate and acquaintance of Chie.

Yukiko was about to stay hello, but stopped just as she was raising her hand to wave as a new thought occurred to her. Would she be a bother if he came over to her? Perhaps she should be considerate and come over to him so that Johnny wouldn't need to push himself through the mud. With a nod to herself, she got up, opened her umbrella, and made her way over to Johnny.

"Hello!"

Johnny stopped his chair when he heard someone call out to him. He turned and was a little perplexed to see a girl in a kimono making her way towards him. Yukiko faltered somewhat at the odd look he gave her, but gave him what she hoped was a friendly smile.

"Oh, I mean, good afternoon, Joestar-san." Yukiko said, trying to sound more polite and formal.

Johnny stared at the girl for several seconds before realizing he recognized the girl.

"You're… Yukiko right?" Johnny asked. "Chie's friend?"

"Yes, that's right." Yukiko was actually glad that Johnny was able to remember her name. She had only met him once through Chie but never really spoke to him. "You've probably never seen me in a kimono. How are you doing?"

"Clothes shopping." Johnny replied bluntly. He didn't say anymore, and was actually looking a bit annoyed.

_"I guess he really doesn't like talking to people…"_ It was actually a first. Usually boys wouldn't stop talking to her and Chie had to chase them off. Not allowing herself to be deterred, Yukiko tried to make small talk, "Um… I'm out right now doing an errand for my parents at the inn. I didn't have time to change though so it's why I'm wearing this kimono."

"You don't say." Johnny replied, tone flat.

Now Yukiko was getting nervous. She didn't want to be a bother to anybody, but being bluntly written off like this wasn't a fond experience. Yukiko wanted to be on good terms with Johnny, even if they would be just minor acquaintances. Plus, he seemed to be getting along a bit with Chie or at least that's what she told Yukiko.

"So… Um…" Yukiko searched for a new topic to talk about. One that could hopefully put herself on good terms with Johnny. "Are you getting used to your new town and school?"

Floundering about, that cliché topic was the best she could think to ask about.

"It's fine. Isn't that different from the states, y'know, other than required uniforms," Johnny replied, tapping his fingers on the wheelchair's armrests. "I also think some of the customs are a bit weird."

"Ah, I see…" Yukiko muttered to herself. It made sense that Johnny would be a bit annoyed with getting used to Japan's social customs. Even if he was half-Japanese, he probably lived solely like an American. "It must be difficult, moving to a new country. I've never been out of Inaba, and probably will never leave Japan, so I wouldn't know."

"Not as difficult as you would think." Johnny replied before he began to push himself forward.

_"RUDE!"_ Yukiko fumed a bit inside her head. She was just trying to be nice! Nevertheless, she decided to follow Johnny as she had to go that way to get back to the inn anyways. "Where are you going?"

"My uncle's place. Don't have anywhere else to be." Johnny offered, not elaborating any further. "Don't you have to get back to your inn?"

"I do, but I have to take this route to get there." Yukiko replied, annoyed that Johnny wasn't elaborating any further. At least he was being civil with her. "How… I mean are you getting along with Chie?"

"Why are you asking?" Johnny asked, seeming almost annoyed by her presence.

"Well you see, she's my friend. A very dear friend of mine…" Yukiko's voice then became wistful, and all her annoyance for Johnny's curt answers disappeared. "She's so full of energy, and has always supported me. She always gave me that extra push I needed for whatever's troubling me." Yukiko then giggled a bit in embarrassment. "We had homeroom together last year too, and I remember when we would cut class together…"

Johnny now gave her a confused look. "Wouldn't take you for the type to cut class."

Yukiko's cheeks became red. "I-It's not like we did it often! I mean I'm not a delinquent or anything!"

"I never doubted it for a second." Johnny said sarcastically, making Yukiko's cheeks flush even more. At least Johnny wasn't being rude anymore, but it was embarrassing to be made fun of like this.

"A-Anyway, this is my turn." Yukiko stated, turning to the left and going up some steps. "I-I'll see you in school, Joestar-san."

She looked out from the corner of her eye and saw Johnny give a light nod and a sigh of relief before continuing onwards. _"Maybe he gets nicer the more time you spend with him…"_ Though Johnny was rude, he was still hanging out with Chie so that meant he wasn't all bad. He even seemed to lighten up just a bit at the end of their conversation.

Her mind then went back to what they talked about, specifically how he felt about moving to Inaba. Then there was what he said about America not being that different. That didn't match her picture of the United States at all. She imagined big cites, wide open plains, and a few overweight people. Either way, it would have been totally different from Inaba.

Still, Yukiko wondered what it would be like to live there. To live in a place far, far away. To be whisked away from Inaba to a completely new country…

Maybe she should try talking to Johnny a bit more…

* * *

**xxXXxx**

"Um… you went to Junes?" Nanako asked Johnny, who blinked in surprise at the question.

That was literally the first thing Nanako has said to him besides 'welcome back' since his arrival.

Johnny could kind of understand why. He was an intrusion on her normally peaceful life with her father, so Nanako probably wasn't used to interacting with other people besides her dad in the house. _"Which kind of works I guess. After all, I really don't talk much to her about stuff…"_

It just felt a bit awkward. After all, Nanako despite her smaller frame tried to help him up the stairs despite his protests, all because 'he was family'. Johnny didn't get that. He had no familial bonds ever since that trip to the hospital, and Johnny barely knew anything about Dojima other than that he was his mother's brother and Nanako happened to be his cousin. Yet she cared enough about him to help…

Kids were hard to figure out sometimes.

"Yeah, I did. Had to go clothes shopping." Johnny replied with a shrug. "Can't let it look like I wear the same outfits every day for the rest of the year."

"But didn't you bring a big box full of clothes and stuff to here?" Nanako asked with curiosity. That made Johnny flinch. For a kid, she seemed to have a good memory. If she got suspicious…

"I… like to have cool clothes." Well that wasn't a lie. Johnny liked to stay fashionable, which his old 'fans' loved.

At least until his accident when they started to call his fashion sense 'gay'.

"Oh, okay." Nanako accepted with a nod. "I just love Junes! It's so big and it has everything in it!"

_"Can't believe a kid is so excited because of some store."_ Well, Johnny wasn't one to talk. He got to practically go everywhere as a kid, while Nanako has been stuck in Inaba for all her life.

Nanako's happy look then fell slightly as she looked at the clock. "Dad's late…"

Johnny frowned slightly as well. Where the hell was Dojima? He knew that the man needed to work late for his job, but this was getting ridiculous. _"Can't believe she had to cook for herself and me…"_

Well, he supposed 'cook' was a strong term. More like reheat some leftovers.

_"Our next story is an update on our ongoing report in the bizarre murders occurring in Inaba."_ The anchorman suddenly spoke, making Johnny turn his attention back to the TV. _"At around 7:00 a.m., local high school student Saki Konishi was found dead in Inaba's Residential Area…"_

Ah yes, the murders. It kind of irked Johnny, how only he, Yosuke, and Chie knew what is probably the only lead to the killer and could not tell the cops.

Then again, that just meant more opportunities to return to that place again.

_"Police are proceeding under the assumption that this may be a serial murder case related to the death of Mayumi Yamano,"_ announced the reporter. _"The coroner's report has established Ms. Konishi's time of death at around 1:00 A.M. last night. The body went unnoticed until this morning as a result of the heavy fog blanketing the area."_

_"Figures why nobody found it earlier."_ Seriously, just how much fog can a town get? Then again, since it's connected to the TV World it was probably supernatural or something.

"Another incident…" Nanako muttered, her voice growing low and sad. "Dad'll be late again."

That sounded more like resigned acceptance rather than depression. "He does this often?"

"Yeah, but my dad's a detective so it's part of his job." Nanako replied with a nod, though she sounded even sadder than before. "I mean, I can handle the house by myself, so it doesn't really bother me…"

That… didn't sound exactly true. It sounded more like Nanako was truly depressed that her father wasn't around. Johnny couldn't say he had ever felt what Nanako felt, since he felt more at ease and relaxed when his father wasn't around, but he couldn't compare his dysfunctional home back in the States to the Dojima's.

"I'm sure he'll be back soon." Johnny said, feeling the need to say something that would maybe appease the girl.

_"After the incident with Ms. Yamano, the manager has stepped aside, leaving her daughter Yukiko to fill her shoes."_ A new voice came from the television, making Johnny look back at the TV to see that some reporter was now on TV. The cameraman then turned to the side and revealed none other than Yukiko on the TV, wearing the same kimono from earlier. It looked like this was recorded earlier in the day, given that it wasn't raining in the scene.

_"In other words, she's a manager who's still in high school,"_ the on-scene reporter finished excitedly. _"Now that has a nice ring to it. Let's see if we can interview her. Excuse me!"_

Yukiko seemed to just notice the reporter, and seemed even more surprised as he went right in front of her with the microphone. _"Hm? Um… are you speaking to me?"_

The reporter didn't even bother answering the question as he proceeded with his 'report'. _"We heard you're the new manager of the Amagi Inn. Is it true that you're still in high school?"_

_"Well… I'm only filling in temporarily,"_ Yukiko definitely looked uncomfortable now.

_"Someday though,"_ the reporter reminded. " _That aside, wow! You look gorgeous in that kimono! That must bring in a lot of male visitors."_

_"Wh-what?"_

_"And your inn's hot springs are all natural, yes? I recall you sometimes allow co-gender hours for the romantic couples. What times do you prefer, new manager?"_

"…Did he seriously just ask that?" Johnny asked with a slight hint of amusement while shaking his head in disbelief. "Oh, Japan…

Still, he could sympathize with Yukiko's situation. Nosy, impolite reporters were in abundance back home and a complete pain to deal with. Always asking questions and getting in his face after races when he just wanted to get out of there. Sometimes Johnny loved the attention, other times…

"This is boring." Nanako declared as she reached for the remote.

"Yeah, it is." Johnny agreed as Nanako turned off the TV. "Hey, aren't you going to watch cartoons or something?" Isn't that what little kids do before going to sleep?

Nanako shook her head. "No, I got to wash the dishes." She then went off to the kitchen, and Johnny could not help but watch as Nanako got a small stand and placed it in front of the sink. She then got on it, sprayed a bit of soap onto a sponge, and took one of the dirty plates.

_"…How old is she really?"_ Johnny thought, astounded at how responsible and dutiful his cousin was. He never washed dishes as a kid, so seeing his young cousin do the chore would be an experience.

Johnny was surprised when Nanako's cute and innocent face suddenly turned stoic, and she even glared cutely at the dishes. He watched as Nanako turned on the sink and took the sponge in her right hand. With her left hand Nanako took a dirty dish and held it slightly to the faucet. Nanako held the dish vertically and placed the sponge at the bottom before swiping it upwards, leaving a clean mark of the path that the sponge took. The dirty sponge was now in contact with the water, cleaning it before Nanako repeated the motion several more times. Johnny could not help but watch in amazement as Nanako then placed the now soapy dish under the running water to rinse it off before taking it out and spinning it over the sink.

_"The water… it's not getting on her or over the counter at all!" J_ ohnny noted as he saw that the water droplets from the dish did not make contact with Nanako at all. She was probably holding the dish at a specific angle to pull off the trick, most likely achieved after washing the dishes herself for so long.

"Kiaaaa~i!" Nanako sung out suddenly before she placed the dish on the drying rack before picking up the next plate.

Johnny blinked for a second before shaking his head. _"Guess everyone has their habits..."_ He then yawned in exhaustion, and his body ached in slight pain. Man, he was getting tired. Figured he would after getting his ass kicked by Yosuke's Shadow.

"I'm going to bed. Goodnight." Johnny called out, pushing himself to the stairs while hearing Nanako's 'goodnight' back to him. He threw the clothes that he got from Junes at the top of the stairs before beginning his climb up.

His arms were a bit sore, but his desire to get to his bed/sofa overrode his body's desire to crash and burn out right on the stairs.

* * *

_**April 16th, 2011:** _

* * *

 

"Um… Hello?" Nanako let out softly as she stood in front of the door of her cousin's room, nervous as she heard no reply.

Nanako had woken up just an hour ago, fully expecting to see her American cousin sitting in his wheelchair watching TV as he had done the day before while she made breakfast. Her dad was never really around in the morning, always off to work, so it fell upon her to make herself breakfast and with her cousin around she had to make breakfast for two. But today, he wasn't in the living room killing time before he left for school.

_"What should I do?"_ Nanako thought, her feet shifting uncomfortably as she stood in front of the closed door. _"Will he get angry if I look into his room?"_

Nanako wasn't scared of her cousin per-say. Sure he was a bit mean at times like when he first got into the house and went to his room by himself after arguing with her dad, but he was still a part of her family. That's why she helped Johnny when he fell down. They were family, so she had to make sure he was okay and help him. Nanako knew that she hurt Johnny's feelings when she asked what his chair was for when they first met, so maybe it was to also make up for that…

Anyway, it was an hour before they usually left for school and Johnny still wasn't around.

_"I have to check on him. He might need help!"_ Nanako's innocent thoughts assured herself as she knocked on the door. "H-hello?"

A tired groan came from behind the door. Nanako then opened the door and took a quick peek inside to see Johnny laying on the couch, a sleeveless white shirt on him and wearing a simple pair of white sweat pants that was dotted with blue stars.

_"Is he still sleeping?"_ That wasn't good. He needed to get ready for school. "Hello?"

"{Go away… It's too early…}" Johnny mumbled something in a language that Nanako could only assume was English.

"Um… s-school starts in an hour." Nanako muttered, making Johnny open his eyes slightly.

"{It's Saturday. Go back to bed.}" With that, Johnny closed his eyes. Nanako then blinked in surprise. She could understand the word Saturday in English because one of her shows taught that word in an episode. But why would…

_"Maybe he didn't have school on Saturday…"_ Nanako had heard one of her classmates complained that Americans had Saturday off but not them, so the reason why Johnny is still asleep was because he was used to his old school schedule.

"School is open on Saturdays here." Nanako informed Johnny, whose eyes shot open and honed in on her.

"…You're serious?"

"Y-yes…"

The two cousins stared at each other in a moment of silence before Johnny rolled out of his bed and onto the floor.

"Um…"

"I'm fine!" Johnny declared as he began to crawl to his closet. "I'm going to get dressed! Is breakfast ready?"

"Yes!" Nanako squeaked out before she ran out the room, her cheeks blushing red from her cousin declaring that he would get dressed. "I-I'll get your plate ready!"

Johnny did not pay Nanako any mind as he dragged his body across the floor and to his closet, grumbling all the while.

"Damn it, why couldn't there not be any school on Saturdays like normal schools!?"

Johnny didn't particularly want to go. If anything he would have preferred ditching school for the day. But, Dojima would probably get pissed at him if he hears it from Nanako and give him a lecture that Johnny wasn't particularly looking forward to. With that in mind, Johnny skidded out of his pajama pants while opening his closet. He took out the pants of his uniform and lifted his legs with his hands to put them in. After that, Johnny buttoned on the white shirt over his sleeveless shirt and took out the school jacket.

He then looked at it for a moment before looking at the golden pins that he had bought. He might as well make his adjustments to the outfit now. He then took two of the big gold heart pins and stuck one into each side of the shoulder sections of the jacket. He then took four of the smaller horseshoe-shaped pins and placed them on opposite sides of the openings of his sleeves, creating something akin to cufflinks. Johnny then looked to his white button-up shirt and placed two of the horseshoe pins on the ends of the collar. Deciding that was enough for now, Johnny put on the jacket and buttoned it up, leaving only the top three buttons unbuttoned to give people a view of his collar.

Johnny then grabbed one of his hats, a blue knit cap with several black stars dotting it, and put it on. Looking at the mirror, Johnny fixed his hair a bit to look nice before dragging himself to the hallway.

Time to see if he could eat breakfast in less than fifteen minutes.

* * *

**xxXXxx**

Yosuke stretched in his seat as the bell for lunch rang. He was seriously bored from the day's lesson. King Moron's class was never interesting, and usually was just an hour-long rant about how shitty the modern day world is and how everyone needs to keep 'pure'.

_"Probably never got laid in his life so he's taking it out on us."_ Not that he was one to talk, but King Moron's attitude never generated any positive feelings about him.

He then looked to Johnny and smiled. It was good to see Johnny was okay after all that had happened yesterday, though he was a bit worried when Johnny was a bit late for school this morning. He didn't want Johnny to miss out on anything because of his Shadow.

Yosuke went to sleep instantly after checking the Midnight Channel. He was dead tired, and for some reason his mind felt… clearer than ever before. Probably because for the first time in his life, he had admitted to his faults through accepting his Shadow. He hadn't felt this good in a while, and woke up well-rested in time for school. Though he was concerned about how Johnny and Chie were holding up. He didn't see either of them until halfway through or after homeroom.

Though what he saw last night… that picture of a woman in a kimono… just who was that?

Shaking his head, Yosuke got up and walked to Johnny. "Yo! How are you doing man?"

"Wish I slept more." Johnny responded with a sigh. "What kind of school has class on Saturdays?"

That caused a chuckle to escape from Yosuke's lips. That's right, Americans usually had Saturday off. "Japan's schools apparently. Didn't they tell you when you enrolled over here?"

"No," Johnny responded while glaring at Yosuke. "All I knew was that I had to wear this uniform and go to school. Didn't think that Japan's school system would be so ridiculous to have Saturdays be part of the school week."

"Aw, don't sweat over it man. You'll get used to it." Yosuke gave a shrug before he looked over Johnny's uniform. He had apparently made some alterations. "Aren't those the pins you got from Junes?"

"Yeah, that's right." Johnny gave a nod as he tapped the golden heart on his jacket's left shoulder. "Thought that it would look better with them."

Yosuke couldn't disagree. The uniforms were already bedazzled, but they were still school uniforms that were all the same. So the school's slightly lax rules about the dress code helped a lot in making the students take creative liberties to make themselves unique.

Johnny meanwhile bedazzled his a bit more in a sense. While pins aren't something Yosuke would put on his clothes, they kind of looked cool on Johnny.

"Well you definitely make them work, man." Yosuke said, giving his two cents. The noise of the room door opening then interrupted what would have been Johnny's response. The two teenagers then saw Chie enter the room and walk towards them worriedly. "Oh hey Chie, what's up?"

Chie's face was scrunched up in worry as she asked, "Have either of you two seen Yukiko around?"

"I saw her last night, but not today." Johnny informed her, making Yosuke look at him in shock. Why would Johnny see Yukiko at night? Yukiko was always at the Inn after school so why would he…?

"Well? Have you Yosuke?" Chie asked, snapping Yosuke out of his thoughts.

"W-well no, I haven't seen her today either."

"Oh man…" Chie muttered in worry. "What should I do? You know how those murders might be related to the Midnight Channel? I-I stayed up last night to watch it and what I saw… whoever was on last night looked kind of like Yukiko!"

Yosuke then realized something. Right! There was something he had been meaning to ask Johnny! "Yeah, I saw that too. Did you man?"

Johnny winced and scratched his cheek slightly. "I… kind of fell right to sleep last night."

Yosuke blinked and then glared at Johnny. "Dude, seriously!?"

"Sorry. I just shut down when I got on my couch." Johnny muttered apologetically while Yosuke clenched his fists. Didn't he promise to help them with this murder case? How could Johnny screw up this badly so early on?

_"Maybe because he got beat up so bad since you couldn't accept your Shadow earlier."_

Yosuke's shoulders slumped and his irritation evaporated at the thought. That was right. He was also to blame for Johnny to be exhausted enough to fall asleep before midnight. Because he just had to have all that baggage on him. That's what created his Shadow…

"Yosuke, Johnny was hurt really bad last night." Chie declared, looking a bit angry yet also understanding. "We can't blame him for not begin able to stay awake."

"I know, I know…" Yosuke muttered as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look man, just try to stay up from now on okay? We won't be able to find the murderer without your help."

"Got it."

Nodding, Yosuke looked to Chie and asked, "Okay, so what makes you think it was Yukiko?"

"Well, she was wearing a kimono, and it looked like the same one from that interview last night!" Chie declared before pointing to her phone. "I emailed her last night but she hasn't responded, and she told me earlier that evening that she would be coming to school today! If she was thrown down there…"

Yosuke could see the logic. Figured that Chie would remember something as minor as what kimono Yukiko was wearing from that news report. "Okay, calm down Chie. We still don't know that yet."

"Have you tried calling her?" Johnny asked, only for Chie to shake her head.

"It goes straight to voicemail…" Chie replied, her body now shaking in freight. Yosuke was worried too, but he knew Chie must be dying inside. After all, Yukiko was her friend while he only spoke to Yukiko in passing.

"Anywhere else she could be?" Johnny's question caused Chie to blink before nodding.

"Yeah! There's the Inn!" She then immediately took out her cellphone and dialed the number. Holding it to her ear, she muttered "Come on Yukiko, pick up…" Then after a second, her face immediately brightened. "Is this Yukiko? Thank god! She's there!" Yosuke and Johnny gave each other a small sigh of relief as Chie continued talking over the phone. After a minute, Chie hung up and explained. "She's fine! She was just at the inn. Yukiko's family had a big group reservation, so she had to stay to help out."

"That's good." Yosuke replied, allowing a relieved smile onto his face.

"But then who was being shown on the TV?" Johnny asked, only for Chie to shake her head.

"I don't know, but it definitely wasn't Yukiko." Chie then looked glumly at the floor. "She said that she was at her home all night and hadn't left."

"I say we go to Junes and see if Teddie knows anything." Yosuke declared, looking at both Chie and Johnny. "If anyone asks, we were just hanging out together."

"Right" Both Johnny and Chie agreed, making Yosuke feel a bit good. They were acting like an actual team…

* * *

**xxXXxx**

Johnny sat in front of the big-screen TV in the electronics department with Chie and Yosuke at his sides, ignoring the sound of customers milling around the area.

After several more hours at school, the three headed straight for Junes. They didn't stop for anything, but acted as casual as possible. They needed to seem like they were just three 'friends' going over to Junes to hang out.

Though Johnny could see that the customers today would hamper their task of seeing Teddie.

"I thought you said this place was supposed to be empty." Chie stated, glaring at Yosuke who looked a bit embarrassed.

"I forgot that there was a sale today, sorry." Yosuke apologized, only for Johnny to shrug.

"We should have seen this coming. This place is the only mega store around." Johnny then sighed, "Too bad there isn't a mall around either, otherwise this place would be a lot more empty."

"Yeah, but then the shopping district would be really gone." Chie then looked around, tapping her foot anxiously. "How are we supposed to meet Teddie without anyone noticing?"

"Wait a sec, I got it!" Yosuke then pointed to the TV. "Johnny, stick your hand inside of the TV and try to get his attention. Me and Chie will make a wall and…"

"Why do I have to be the one to do it?" While Johnny wanted to help Yosuke find the murderer, he didn't exactly like to get lumped with jobs. "If it's your idea, then you do it."

"What? Come on dude, me and Chie will totally block you from them." Yosuke then thumbed his finger to the left at some customers looking at some TVs.

"We can also block you from view." Johnny pointed out, only for Chie to huff in anger.

"Will you two stop being such babies and just do it already?"

Johnny sighed before he stuck his right hand inside the TV. Then, a sharp biting sensation clamped over his hand, making the American pull back his hand with a hiss of pain.

"W-What's wrong?" Yosuke almost shouted in alarm, looking at Johnny's hand in worry. Johnny could see why. Huge bite marks were now dotting the middle of his hand.

"A-are those teeth marks? Are you okay?" Chie asked in worry, only for Johnny to give her a blank look.

"I might need to chop it off."

Chie's face turned red in embarrassment and anger before she angrily whispered, "This isn't a time to be smart, Johnny!" She then looked to the TV and declared, "Hey Teddie, we know you're in there!"

"Oh! Oh! Is this a game?" Teddie's distorted voice came from the TV, but it was low and it didn't seem like the customers had noticed anything.

"Yeah, it's a fun game." Johnny replied sarcastically, however it only seemed to excite the bear more.

"Really Sensei?"

"No, it's not a game." Yosuke responded, exasperated from the bear's giddiness already. "Look, is anyone with you over there right now?"

"Who's anyone? I'm just a lonely little bear like always."

Johnny frowned at that. Was Teddie telling the truth? Then again, the mascot wouldn't have a reason to lie since he wanted to get rid of the murderer too.

"This land is so…bear-en."

Chie and Yosuke let out a sigh of exasperation from the bad pun, while Johnny gave a small clap.

"Y-you thought it was good Sensei?"

"Oh yeah, Really good. Hilarious." Johnny gave no emotion into the praise, signaling that he was lying through his teeth. However, the bear only gave a small giggle of happiness.

"Then I'll be sure to keep it up, Sensei!"

Johnny then let out his own sigh. Figures the bear didn't understand sarcasm.

"Teddie, are you sure nobody is inside there with you?" Chie asked, dead serious in tone. "You're positive?"

"O-of course I'm positive!" Teddie's voice replied as if offended. "My nose is running as good as ever!"

Johnny rubbed his hand, hoping the bite mark wouldn't bruise or anything. Seemed like Teddie was sure that nobody was on his side of the TV, so it was probably safe to say nobody was thrown in.

_"But then what was the Midnight Channel trying to show us?"_ Johnny wondered, now wishing he had stayed up to catch the show. Maybe then he could've had an easier time making a guess…

What made it even more frustrating was that Igor and Margaret hadn't contacted him in his dreams last night, so he couldn't press for more answers from them. If he could then maybe some of his questions could be solved easily…

"I'm going to go to the inn and warn Yukiko." Chie declared, looking at both of the boys. "She'll be busy working at the inn this weekend so I doubt she'll go anywhere alone but still…"

"Yeah, and you'll walk with her to school Monday right?" Seeing Chie's nod, he turned to Johnny. "Let's make sure to watch the Midnight Channel tonight, alright?"

"Relax, I can stay up tonight. Wounds are practically healed." Johnny assured Yosuke. He then looked at Chie. "I guess we'll see each other on Monday or something."

"Yeah…" With that, Chie left the two boys alone in front of the TV. Yosuke then gave his own goodbye to Johnny before he left as well.

Was Yukiko really a target? He didn't necessarily like the girl, but Johnny wanted to keep anyone from harming her if he could help it. Who would have a reason to target her anyway? He remembered from crime shows that serial killers all had some sort of motive, no matter how sick or simple it was. Targeting Yukiko though didn't make any sense though…

He would check the Midnight Channel though, just in case.

* * *

**xxXXxx**

_"Hey Blondie! You know what you are!? The greatest son-of-a-AAAAAAAHHHHH!"_

Johnny turned off the TV, positioning his legs onto the couch so that he could go to sleep after the Midnight Channel. He had returned home and ate dinner with Nanako, Dojima once again not showing up, before they went to their respective rooms. Nanako fell asleep while Johnny killed time by watching a movie that he had brought over.

Good Western, one of his favorites. But he preferred Alfred Hitchcock's movies.

Luckily the movie itself ended just a few minutes before midnight, and Johnny could hear the rain pattering onto his window. With the lights off, the conditions were perfect for the Midnight Channel.

_"Can't believe I forgot to watch it last night…"_ Johnny still felt slightly guilty about that. He just wanted to go to sleep, and not pay attention to anything else. It was his own fault that he could not stay up to just check the Midnight Channel. If he forgot it again, would Yosuke and Chie not want to deal with him? " _I can deal with that. I can be alone. But if I don't stay on this then…"_ Johnny didn't know if he could go to that world just by himself. It just didn't… feel right without Chie or Yosuke being there with him.

Johnny then shook his head. He shouldn't think like this. It was a mistake, and now he was making up for it. That's all there was to it.

The clock then finally ticked to midnight, and Johnny looked at the TV to see it light up in yellow static before the picture changed. He saw Yukiko Amagi's face begin kissing up the TV and then give a sultry look to the camera before shouting cheerfully _"Hello there!"_

Her outfit was… radically different from her school uniform or the kimono Johnny saw her wearing the day before. The now wore a pink and white dressed with roses at the hem along with cage frills. Her arms were now covered up to the mid-arm in pink gloves, and a gold tiara was on her head. In her right hand was a microphone that read "Mayonaka TV', which the girl spoke into.

_"Good evening, everyone! Princess Yukiko is here with a special announcement!"_

Johnny could not help but gape in silence as 'Yukiko' continued to speak to the 'camera' of the Midnight Channel

_"Tonight I'm going to score myself a hot stud to be my new prince!"_ She then aimed her left hand like a gun and shouted _"Saddle up, and reign in your stud!"_ She then imitated the kickback of a gun, complete with a sound effect from what was better in an old Western. _"This is "Princess Yukiko's Hunt for her Prince On a White Horse!"_

As "Yukiko" finished she waved her arm outwards dramatically and behind her a pink ribbon with glowing letters magically appeared with the words she had just spoke emblazoned on it in white kanji.

It was like something on a low-budget cheesy 80's dating show.

_"To catch me a stud, I came prepared! My lacey unmentionables are ready to go!"_ With that, 'Yukiko' patted her crotch with her left hand. _"And so is my…"_ Her hands then formed a heart, and she outlined the shape of one complete with highlights on the screen to make the picture. "…heart!" She then pressed the 'heart' onto her chest, seemingly enlarging her breasts just by pushing on them while giggling flirtatiously. _  
_

Johnny just gaped and blinked as the heart burst into smaller hearts complete with 'sparkling' sound effects. _"Is this real?"_

_"My heart is a special part of me, and I only require one special stud to please me! But to make sure that happens, I'm off to hunt me a whole harem of the best dressed, stocked, and lovely princes out there! Well, wish me luck everyone! Here I go!"_

'Yukiko' then ran into the regal looking castle with the swirling red gate behind her. It focused on the castle for only a second before the 'channel' turned to static and the TV shut off.

Johnny gaped at the TV for a second before he said a phrase in English that summarized his thoughts on what had just happened.

"What the fuck?"

* * *

**< \--[To Be Continued |\|]**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, Johnny is a little mean to Yukiko isn't he? But it makes sense for his character. Just because he likes Chie doesn't mean he has to put in effort to play nice with her best friend. I also enjoyed the culture clash with Nanako telling Johnny about Japan's school week. Always like peppering in those little culture clash jokes.


End file.
